


Allies

by ncsupnatfan



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Developing Friendships, Drama, Supernatural Elements, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2020-11-27 14:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 50,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20949698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncsupnatfan/pseuds/ncsupnatfan
Summary: The Winchester run across a new hunter who is tracking a creature they have never heard of. Sam is shocked to learn his connection with this hunter and what he offers him. They team up to find the creature and kill it before more lives are lost.





	1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello my wonderful readers and welcome back for another journey with the Winchester brothers. This story will introduce you to a new character that I have developed. I hope you enjoy the story and will take this journey with me. Fasten your seatbelts; we are pulling away from the terminal. I do like to know your thoughts, comments would be great. NC

Disclaimer: I do not own SPN and this story is my own creation. All errors are my own.  
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The commercial plane circled the runway as the pilot lined up for the landing. The ‘Fasten Seat Belt’ sign had been turned on and the passengers on the red eye flight from England all settled back getting ready for the decent. The tower gave the pilot the go ahead that they were clear to land on runway eight. The landing gear could be felt lowering and locking in place just before the plane started to drop lower from the sky. The pilot lined up with the runway, and he pulled back slowly on the throttles to slow the large plane’s engines. He adjusted the flaps to slow the decent.

The wheels bounced once, then again, when they made contact with the runway and the forward motion decelerated by the brakes and the reverse thrust of the engines. The plane continued down the runway and slowed to a crawl while it was guided to the tarmac and up to the gate where the large plane came to a stop. The engines were shut down and the ground crew choked the wheels as the plane was made ready for the passengers to depart.

The young man sitting in seat M3 let out the breath he was holding as the plane came to a standstill. He didn’t like flying, and only did it if there was no other option. He pushed his raven black hair back from his face and looked at the other passengers getting up to get their bags from the overhead bins. He stayed in his seat so they could file out when the side door was opened. After most of the passengers had embarked, he got up and opened the bin above his seat to get down his duffle. With it slung over his shoulder, he made his way to the front of the plane toward the waiting stewardess. 

“Thank you for flying with us and enjoy visit in the states,” she told him giving him a warm smile.

“Thanks,” he mumbled stepping from the confines of the plane into the walkway to the terminal. He had a dull ache behind his eyes that seemed to get worse since they landed. 

He strolled along until it opened into the huge terminal and stopped as the sights, sounds, and feelings of the place bombarded him as people hurried by to catch a flight or find family or friends. He slowly blocked each sense, putting up a wall for each until he had them tuned out, and his mind was calm again. Wanting to get out of this place, he looked at the signs and followed them through the airport until he found the exits and stepped out on the sidewalk looking one way and then the other searching for a familiar face.

“You need a taxi?” a man asked where a line of yellow cabs were waiting to pick up passengers. 

He looked at the cars and shook his head no when he sensed who he was looking for. He made his way through the people to a line of cars farther down and stopped at a battered, beat up truck and got in.

“Hello cousin,” the driver spoke to him as he settled his duffle between his legs. “How was the flight?”

“Long and loud,” he said a hint of an accent in his voice. He rubbed his temples absently as the driver pulled away from the curb and headed away from the airport. 

“Was surprised to hear from you and that you were coming over, are you hunting?” he asked curious about his cousin that he hadn’t seen in ten years. 

“Yes,” he replied not willing to give any further explanation. Since he knew there was no way to bring weapons on the plane, he decided to contact some distant cousins for help knowing they would be able to get what he needed. The family still held to the old ways and he knew they would not turn him away. They would have what he needed to continue his search and no questions would be asked.

The truck continued out of the city away from all of the lights and congestion leaving it behind. It traveled on for several hours, leaving civilization that turned into sprawling countryside in its wake. It wasn’t long before he was turning off the main road onto secondary roads that turned into gravel roads that finally led them to a small community of gypsies. 

“Mother B is waiting to meet you and then you can catch a nap if you want,” the driver told him as he pulled his truck up beside a white, clapboard house.

“Alright,” the traveler acknowledged getting out of the truck and following him toward the house that was a little run down and needed a new coat of paint. He looked at the other houses he could see and noticed they all seemed the same way, but things were neat and clean around them.

spn

The traveler stepped into the house and looked around the dimly lit room until his cousin headed on into the kitchen. He dropped his duffle in the living room and followed him into a brightly lit kitchen that had a rich, hearty aroma filling the air. He saw an elderly woman of an undetermined age, standing at the stove stirring a large pot on the stove. 

“He’s here Mother B,” the cousin said bowing to her out of respect.

“Thank you my child. Sit, sit,” she said in a strong, unwavering voice as she waved to the table. She stood tall, even thought her size was petite and gave an air of authority and power.

He went to the table and sat down, motioning the traveler to a chair across from him. They waited at the table as Mother B ladled out two bowls of stew. She sliced two thick pieces of homemade bread, and put the slices in the bowls before sitting one in front of each of them.

“Eat,” she commanded to the two young men, before moving away to the sink to wash the dishes.

They looked at the bowls and took spoons to start eating. They dipped the bread into the thick broth and ate it. They remained quiet throughout the meal. The traveler occasionally glanced to Mother B as she continued to clean the kitchen and put away the remaining stew. 

“You know why I’m here,” the newcomer said, breaking the silence in the room.

“You have traveled across the ocean to this land in search of an unknown foe, and need items you could not bring with you,” she stated looking at him carefully. 

“Yes, will you be able to help?” he asked.

“You will stay here tonight,” she stated. “All will be prepared tomorrow. Show him his room.”

“Yes Mother B,” the cousin said getting up from the table. “Come with me.” 

He led the traveler back through the living room where he grabbed his duffel and followed him down the hall to a small room with a bed. 

“You can stay here, bathroom’s across the hall. I‘ll see you in the morning,” he said turning and leaving him alone.

“Thanks,” he replied sitting his duffel down in a chair and sitting on the bed. It was quiet here and his headache was almost gone. He didn’t have to put up his walls here so he could let his mind and body rest. There was no one here that would dare harm him since he had been marked by his clan as a hunter and gifted one. He lay back on the bed and sent his mind to a safe place to recharge.

spn

The morning light streamed through the window waking him the next morning. He got up and went to the bathroom to relieve himself, brush his teeth and wash his face and hands. Once he had changed his shirt and repacked his things, he headed for the kitchen where he felt the others were gathered. Mother B was drinking tea and his cousin was having coffee. They looked toward him as he walked into the room.

“Coffee’s on the stove,” Mother B said. “Oatmeal’s in the pot if you want a meal.”

“Thank you for your kindness,” he said serving himself coffee and a bowl of oatmeal. He moved to the table and took a seat so he could have breakfast.

“They will bring what you need here shortly,” the cousin said. 

“Thanks,” he nodded as he spooned oatmeal into his mouth. 

“Do you know where you will go?” Gran asked.

“Not yet, but I will.”

“I can tell you are strong child. If you need assistance it can be found across the country. I will put the word out of your arrival and that help should be provided if needed.” 

“Thank you, your payment will be sent.” 

“For that we are grateful. Your clan should be proud of you.” 

“Will you leave once you are equipped?” the cousin asked. 

“Yes,” he replied knowing he didn’t need to delay his departure. 

“Beware of others out there who might not take kindly to you encroaching on their hunts,” Mother B warned him. “There are some who will not understand you and may try to kill you.”

“I will be careful, I was taught well. My Gramps and Grand made sure of it.” 

A knock sounded at the door and the cousin went to get it for Mother B. He brought back a pack and offered it to the traveler. 

“This is the best we could do, but I think it will suffice until you find more,” Mother B told him. “You may take my car. I have no need for it any longer. But before you go, kneel before me.”

The traveler did as he was bade and knelt before the elder and bowed his head. She laid her gnarled hand on top of his head as she spoke in her native language.

"Îți trimit rugăciunea la cer pentru călătoriile în siguranța pentru Dominick Sebastian, te rog să-l călăuzești și să-l protejezi în această călătorie în acest ținut. Fie ca ei să vă dea putere, curaj și putere peste răul pe care îl caută. Fie ca strămoșii noștri să-l privească de-a lungul drumului. Du-te cu Dumnezeu, copilul." she prayed in a strong, clear voice.

(Translation: I send my prayer to the Heavens for the safe travels for Dominick Sebastian, please guide and protect him on this journey in this land. May thy give you strength, courage and power over the evil that he seeks. May our ancestors watch over him along the way. Go with God my child.)

“Thank you Grandmother. May you be blessed,” Dominick said reverently and accepted the pack and keys offered to him. "I will return your car when I can." He got up from the floor and went outside and to a random looking car that was old, but when he cranked it was happy the engine sounded in decent shape. He pulled out onto the gravel road and headed back the way he came deciding to find a small town and motel and begin his search. This might seem like an impossible task for most, but this hunter was unique and was not one discouraged easily. He would search out contacts and start his search for the creature that had eluded him for over three years now.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been over three months since Dominick had arrived in the United States, and he was trying to adjust to this new country. Things were different here than in Europe, so he had to make quiet a few adjustments to his hunting technique. There was so much more on the internet about strange and unusual things and the supernatural, though you couldn’t believe everything you read. It seemed that some hunters had created sort of hunting communities here and shared information among themselves.

He pulled into the parking lot of a bar called the Empty Bucket and found a space. This was one of a number of hang outs for hunters he had found in his travels. He had not been idle during his search taking out a number of nasty monsters and even helping a few hunters in their hunts. Rumors were floating around the hunting communities of a new hunter that appeared out of no where and was as good as the Winchester brothers. Dominick had heard the names of Sam and Dean Winchester, who were brothers that hunted together, a number of times during his time here in the states. He did his own research and found out some interesting facts about them and wondered how much of it was true and how much was fake. 

The door opened easily as he stepped into the dimly lit room, that had a haze of smoke near the ceiling, and paused giving it a once over. He let his senses scan for danger before stepping toward the bar and taking the end stool. 

"What'll it be?" the female bartender asked in as sultry voice. She liked them tall, dark and handsome and he sure fit the bill. The stranger had raven black, long hair that was partly held back with a leather cord. The color of his eyes was hard to discern since they varied from a deep violet to almost black, depending on his mood. But what hit you was how they seemed to pierce into your very soul, like he was seeing the real you and not just the outside appearance. He was lean and muscular and moved with the stealth of a predator staking their prey. He was dressed in dark jeans, boots, dark shirt and leather jacket, that let him fit right in with the others in the bar. 

“Beer please,” Dominick answered, ignoring her attempts at flirting. 

She put down a napkin and sat the icy cold bottle of beer on it and moved to serve someone else seeing he didn’t seem interesting in getting cozy.

The beer was cold and tart to his taste buds as he sipped on it while he cast his gaze toward the others in the room. He automatically picked out the hunters without much of a problem, but didn’t acknowledge any of them, even though he did recognize a couple. He was not one to socialize with the locals and kept his head down, but listened closely trying to catch any conversation he could. 

Two were talking about their last hunt and taking out a Wendigo in the Michigan woods that had been killing campers. Another mentioned Dean Winchester and that he was back in the game again. This struck him as unusual wondering what had happened to this well known hunter. He listened a little harder and caught something that both brothers had disappeared for nearly a year before they magically showed back up again. Dominick wondered if he should arrange a chance meeting with these hunters and see if they had any knowledge of the creature he was pursuing. He finished his beer and got up to leave, wanting to find a motel for the night before it got late.

“Don’t I know you?” one of the hunters asked as he strolled past them.

“Probably not,” he said. His accent usually gave him away as being an outsider to most.

“Yeah I do, you took out that ghoul in St Louis a while back. Good work,” he complemented him. “You on a job?”

“Not at the moment,” he replied trying to be polite, but still trying to leave.

“Why don’t you join us for a drink?” he asked. “Name’s Clive and this is Lester.” 

Dominick thought about declining, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to have one more beer and pulled a chair out to sit down. He might be able to gather some information from them to help himself. He reached out and felt their souls deciding they were okay guys; not like a few he had come across that hunted. They didn’t do it to save people, they hunted for the shear pleasure of the kill and it didn’t matter if innocents were killed in the process. He had felt their souls and they were dark and evil.

“I’m Dominick,” he replied trying to be polite. "Dom, for short."

“I’ll get us another round,” Lester said getting up to go to the bar.

“Are you new to hunting?” Clive asked out of curiosity.

“No, I’ve been doing it for a long time,” Dominick replied trying to be vague and not reveal much about himself.

“That’s a unique accent you’ve got, where do you hail from?”

“I was born here but moved around a lot. Most of my family is from Romania.” 

“Here we go, beers all around,” Lester said interrupting the conversation so Dominick didn’t have to continue. “What were we talking about?” 

“We were going to check out some deaths in Texas,” Clive said watching Dominick as he sipped his beer. He was a strange one, but from what he remembered of the hunt he did, he was good at it. “You wanna come with us?” he offered to Dominick.

“No, but thanks for the offer. I have others things I need to do.” 

“Okay, sure. Do you hunt alone?”

“Mostly, I have occasionally assisted other hunters.” 

“Good to know. We kind of have a small community of hunters that help each other out and such. It’s run by a guy named Garth. He took it over when Bobby Singer was killed a couple of years ago. Now he was a legend. Won‘t ever be another one like him,” Clive rambled before stopping to take a long draw on his beer.

“Probably the best researcher and hunter out there besides the Winchesters. From what I hear he was their mentor and sort of father figure after their Dad passed away. That man was another damn good hunter too. Too bad he died so young,” Lester continued for Clive. 

Dominick remained quiet as he listened to them talk gathering knowledge to store away for later. He listened to them ramble on for another fifteen minutes before excusing himself and getting up to leave. He was surprised when Clive shoved a scrap of paper his way with their cell numbers on it. 

“In case you ever need any help with a case, give us a call,” Clive said. “Doesn’t hurt to have some back up if you need it.”

“Thanks,” Dominick said picking it up and shoving it in his pocket. He paused for a moment and then pulled a napkin his way before taking out a pen and writing down his cell number. “Same for you.”

“Take care out there,” Lester told him.

They watched him stroll toward the door and out it before turning back to their drinks.

“He’s an unusual character,” Clive commented. 

“Yeah, kind of quiet, but those are the ones you need to look out for,” Lester said. “At least we know he knows what he’s doing and isn’t some green horn that’ll get his self killed the first time he does a hunt.”

spn

The door to the bar opened and two tall figures stepped into the entrance, pausing long enough to survey the room before moving to the bar. One was limping slightly and the other was walking stiffly. They took a seat at a couple of bar stools and waited to be served.

“Hello there....” the female bartender drawled out as she took in the two good looking hunks sitting there. Maybe she’d get lucky tonight after all. “What can I get for you two?”

“Beer and shot of Jack,” the older of the two ordered in a rough voice.

“Coming right up,” she said putting down napkins and sitting a shot glass on each. She poured the shots and moved to the cooler to pull two bottles of beer from it placing them beside the shots. “If you need anything else let me know,” she told them leaning closer so they could see her cleavage. 

Both just nodded their response as they downed the shots wincing as it burned all the way down sending warmth throughout their cold bodies. 

“Winchesters, it’s been a long time,” Clive said coming up behind them. 

Dean’s hand was on his weapon and ready to attack, but Sam laid a hand on his arm to stop him. Ever since Dean had come back from Purgatory, Sam had noticed how jumpy and on edge he still was. It was like he couldn’t shut it off and it showed in his hunting too. He was more intense and serious than before with a drive that was scary. He turned to see who had spoken to them. Sam frowned as he wracked him memory on who the guys was. He was sure he was a hunter and his face did look vaguely familiar.

“You hunted with Bobby some,” Dean stated moving to pick up his beer and sip on it.

“Yeah, sorry to hear about...You know....” Clive said trying to express his sorrow, but it was awkward. “Good to have you guys back on the front lines. You run across a new hunter that’s out there yet?”

“What some green horn that’s goin' to get himself killed on the first hunt?” Dean grunted in disgust.

“Naw, seems like he knows his business. You just missed him; he was in here about thirty minutes ago, a real quiet one. Said his name was Dominick.”

“You know where he comes from or anything about him?”

“He wasn’t the sharing type, but he did have an accent I couldn‘t place. He looked Sam's age and said he'd been hunting for a while. Talked to a hunter that worked with him, said he was good. He did give me his cell number if we needed any backup.” 

“Could you give that to me?” Sam asked rummaging in his pockets for a pen. He leaned over the bar and picked one up to hand to Clive. 

“Okay, don’t see how’d it’d hurt,” he said scribbling on a napkin for him.

“Thanks and good to see you again,” Sam said looking at the number before stuffing it in his pocket.

“Same here. Glad you’re back,” Clive nodded moving away.

“Why’d you do that?” Dean asked curious about Sam's action.

“It might come in handy,” Sam shrugged not sure why he did it himself, but it was always good to have allies on their side.

“Finish your beer, I need a hot shower and a bed,” Dean grumbled catching the bartender for another shot.

She came over and poured another before pouting when he didn’t notice her and walked away.

“How’s the ribs and shoulder?”

“Hurts like hell,” he growled downing the shot in one gulp. He swallowed the last of his beer and looked at his brother. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Sam sighed knowing that was a dismal from him. He had been getting a lot of that lately and wasn't sure how to make it right with his brother.

spn

The motel that he chose was several hours away from the bar. He always looked for the smaller, no name motels, but made sure they were clean and cheap. Dominick didn’t need fancy places to stay as long as there was a shower and bed, that’s all he needed. 

He had been able to stay with different clans across the country as he moved about. Word had spread throughout the Romanian clans to welcome him and help if they could. He found them welcoming and helpful and was able to exchange vehicles for a little newer non-descript car. Dominick made sure that the car that Mother B had loaned him was sent back to her.

He came out of the bathroom running his fingers through his long, damp hair before going to the table to open up the laptop he had been given when he first got into this country. He pulled up a number of sites and started searching again for anything on the creature he was chasing. It took him nearly a month to pick up its trail but it had vanished again. It was elusive and hard to track since there was such a huge area it could hide in, but he wasn’t giving up; he had been given this task and he planned to see it through. 

Another article caught his eye about some strange deaths in a town less than a half a day's drive from where he was and decided to go check it out the next day. He wasn't one to remain idle and wanted to keep his skills honed for the hunt. After saving the article and shutting down his laptop, Dominick went to bed to let his body and mind rest.  
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A/N: So the guys know a new hunter is around and they will be running into him soon. Thank you for deciding to give the story a try. I hope you enjoy the read. Comments would be nice. NC


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: The hunters are going to meet, not in the best circumstances, but some interesting facts are going to come out. Thank you for reading my story . I do like to know your thoughts, comments would be great. NC  
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The town Dominick rolled into didn't seem much different from any of the others he had been in since being in the states. Plainview, Texas was a small town located in the upper leg of Texas between Amarillo and Lubbock. He drove slowly through it checking out where the local law enforcement office and the hospital were and searched for hangouts before deciding to get a motel room so he could continue on foot. He wanted to see the bodies and was going to call a cousin to hack the police data base for the reports on the killings. He knew going in person to the local police would be a bad idea since he couldn't pass himself off as FBI or other law enforcement agency.

After paying for a room, Dominick moved his car in front of it, and got out grabbing his bag from the back before going to the door and letting himself in. He paused in the entrance to check the room out before going on in and sitting his bag in a chair. He pulled his cell out to make a call, listening to it ring until it was picked up.

"Yo, lay it on me," a male voice greeted him.

"Sergio, Cum ești vărul? A trecut prea mult timp," Dominick said warmly as he pictured his distant cousin. 

Translation (How are you cousin? It's been too long.)

"Dominick, omul meu ... Cum ai fost?" Sergio replied. 

Translation (my man...How have you been?)

"Not bad."

"I heard through the grapevine that you were here. What can I do for you Cuz?" 

"I need your magic fingers Serg.” 

“So, you working or is this something else?” 

“Working a case, I need to get some murder reports from the locals.”

“Lay it on me bro.” 

“I’m in Plainview, Texas and there’s been a rash of unsolved murders that have the locals stumped,” he told him.

“Text me your email and I’ll send you the reports,” Serg said with confidence. 

“Be sure you cover your tracks.” 

“Please!...You do know who you’re talking to,” he scoffed as if offended. 

“Thanks for this; I’ll get that text right to you.”

“Later Cuz. La revedere, te uiți la spate.” 

Translation (Good-bye, watch your back)

“Întotdeauna vărul,” Dominick said before hanging up. 

Translation (Always cousin.)

spn

The morgue was cold, sterile, and uninviting as Dominick strolled into the autopsy room and looked around. The smell was one that was hard to forget and it seemed to cling to you and seep into your clothes.

“Can I help you?” a morgue tech asked.

“I would like to see the bodies of the latest murder victims,” he said.

“I’m sorry, you shouldn’t even...” he started before Dominick interrupted him.

“You want to show me the bodies,” Dominick told him in a slightly different tone.

After a moment the tech replied, “Why don’t I show you the bodies.” 

“Thank you,” he smirked following him to the drawers and waited as he pulled several of the metal trays out and stood back.

“Why don’t you make me a copy of the autopsy reports too?” he suggested.

“I can do that,” he nodded anxious to do his bidding as he hurried away.

Dominick pulled the sheet down and looked at a young male five or six years older than himself and studied his body. It was paler than most dead bodies and turned his head to see the slash across his throat, but upon closer inspection, he could see the bite marks on the neck. If you didn’t know what to look for it would have been missed. His first thoughts were right, it looked like a vampire had taken up residence in this town and was boldly killing the townspeople. Usually vampires hid their kills so they couldn’t be tracked, but in this case that was not true. 

“Here you go, is there anything else that you need?” the tech asked wanting to please him.

“This is fine, you will forget I was ever here,” he told him after checking the other bodies and seeing the same. 

“You were never here,” the tech repeated turning away as Dominick left the morgue. He shook his head and looked around wondering why one of the drawers was open and closed it. Something in the back of his mind flickered an image, but it was gone before he could grasp it. Thinking it was nothing, he went about his business. 

Dominick sat in his car as he read over the autopsy reports not finding anything interesting and decided to head back to his motel room to see if he had an email waiting on him. He was hoping to gather some useable information from it. He cranked his car and pulled out to head that way. He decided to make a stop at a local diner that seemed popular to get something to eat, and to see if anyone was talking about the murders. He signaled and turned into the parking lot to find a place to park before heading for the front entrance. 

After looking around once he entered, Dominick headed for a small table toward the middle of the room that would let him hear the others around him talking. He ordered a drink and looked at the menu as he trained his hearing to pick up conversations around him. He heard mummers about the killings and got a sense of the uneasiness and fear in the air. Dominick ordered when the waitress came back and sipped on his drink while waiting for his food. He thought about what he knew so far and started forming a profile in his mind. His food came and he ate, not wasting any time since he wanted to get back to check his email. The waitress brought the check and he paid including a tip and left.

spn

The Winchester brothers rolled into town and found the local police station first. The eldest parked his Impala in a visitor’s parking space so they could go inside to talk to the locals about the strange murders that had happened over the past several weeks. They headed into the station to question whoever was in charge in hopes it would help them determine what was killing the townspeople.

“May I help you?” a female officer asked them as they stopped at the front desk.

“FBI, we’d like to talk to someone about the recent murders you've had in the area,” Dean told her as they pulled their fake badges out to show her. 

“If you’ll have a seat, I’ll get the captain,” she told them after giving them a once over.

“Over here,” Sam mumbled nodding to chairs sitting in front of the desk. He dropped into one of the chairs as Dean did the same. “You okay?” he asked when he saw how tense Dean seemed.

“I’m fine,” he replied trying to keep the irritation from his voice. 

Before Sam could give him anything but a bitch face, a man dressed in a uniform approached them.

“I’m Captain Rush, may I help you?” he asked as they stood.

“FBI, Agent Nash and Young,” Dean told him. “We’re here about the strange deaths you’ve had in your town.”

“I don’t remember calling in the FBI,” he said leading them to an office and motioning for them to sit.

“Couldn’t tell you, we just go where we’re told. What can you tell us about the deaths?” 

“The bodies were found in different places around town. The only injuries we found on the body were puncture wounds that were almost hidden by their throats being cut. But that wasn’t the weird part.” 

“They were drained of blood,” Sam stated before he could continue.

“How did you know that?”

“We’ve seen it before.” 

“Did you catch the person doing the killings?” 

“Yes, but it might be a copy cat. We’d like to see the bodies,” Dean told him.

“And could we get a copy of your reports on the deaths?” Sam added.

“Of course, the bodies are at the morgue at the hospital.” 

“Thank you for your help,” Dean said standing and shaking his hand. 

“I’ll have someone make copies of the reports.”

“You can put it on a flash drive if you like, might save some time and paper,” Sam suggested hoping that would be quicker.

“Sure, if you’ll wait out front it shouldn’t take a moment.” 

They moved to the other side of the desk and took a seat again waiting for the information to be copied. It didn't take but ten minutes and the front desk officer came back with a flash drive. They thanked her and headed out to the hospital to check the bodies. 

spn

“You must be the FBI guys the Captain called about,” the medical examiner said when they walked in.

“Yes, we’re here to see the bodies of the murder victims,” Dean said.

“If you’ll step this way,” he replied.

“Could we also get a copy of the autopsy reports?” Sam asked.

“Of course; Hopson, make copies,” he told the autopsy tech who was lounging at a desk.

Sam watched him step away and then pause with a confused look on his face, like he wasn’t sure what to do.

“Is something wrong?” Sam asked him when he saw his reaction.

“No, I don’t think so, it’s just seems I’ve already done this today,” he said shaking his head as if to clear it before stepping to a filing cabinet to get the reports.

“Agent,” Dean called to him when he didn’t follow. 

“Coming,” Sam replied dismissing the tech and moving to stand by the drawer that was pulled out. He looked down at the body as Dean pulled the sheet down. 

“These are the other two,” the examiner said pulling out two more drawers.

“Thanks, we’ll let you know when we’re done,” Dean dismissed him, wanting to check the bodies alone.

“Very well,” he replied heading back to the other side of the room. 

“Do you see what I do?” Dean asked Sam as he examined the slashed throat.

Sam leaned in closer and squinted slightly, then his eyes widened when he saw it too. He grabbed a pair of gloves to put on and carefully pinched the skin together to get a better look at the two small wounds. He went to the other two bodies and checked to find the same thing. He snapped a couple of pictures of each wound before stripping off the gloves.

“Vamp,” Dean whispered low enough no one else would hear. 

“This is pretty careless if you ask me,” he mumbled. 

“We’ve gotten everything we can from here; let’s head back to the motel.” 

“Here are the reports,” the tech said holding out an envelope for Sam. 

“Thanks.” 

“I could have sworn I did this earlier,” he mumbled to himself as he walked away from them rubbing his head still talking to himself.

“What was that about?” Dean asked watching the guy shuffle away.

“No idea,” Sam replied not knowing what to make of it either.

They headed back to the Impala and Dean drove them back to the motel. He stopped at a diner for takeout so they wouldn’t have to go back out and could concentrate on the reports. They wanted to see if there was anything to link the victims that might give them a clue where the vampire might have picked them up. Dean was betting it was a female since all the victims were male, young and good looking. 

spn

The email was waiting on Dominick when he got back to the motel and he pulled up the reports to skim through them once and then read them slower as he started looking for anything they had in common. He saw it on the second read, the name of a nightclub, Whiskey River, which two out of the three had visited on the night they disappeared. It was worth checking out and decided to grab a nap before finding the club later that evening. If he was right, the vamp would wait until the club was full where she’d have her choice of victims. He was sure it was a female vampire that was doing the killings. Dominick stretched out on top of the covers and set his internal clock before willing his mind to shut down to rest. He needed to be at the top of his game tonight if he was going to find and kill the vampire before she struck again. 

Dominick's eyes opened within minutes of when he wanted to get up. He never had a problem getting up by his internal clock and rolled from the bed to shower and change clothes. The shower woke him the rest of the way and he quickly finished and towel dried his body before doing his hair. He ran his fingers through it and smoothed it out before wiping the mirror to gaze at his reflection for a moment deciding shaving could wait a few more days. He strolled into the other room and pulled clothes from his duffel. He dressed in all black and added a black leather jacket to complete his outfit. He pulled weapons from another bag and hid them in various places in his clothes. He checked his Taurus to be sure it was loaded with his special bullets and then slipped it into the small of his back. He adjusted his jacket and snagged his car keys to head out to the night club.

It was after nine pm when he found the night club and found a parking space a block away. He walked down to the club and made his way inside. Dominick paused long enough to scan the crowd and see if the vampire was here yet, but didn’t sense it. All the ones in the club were human for now. He went to the bar for a beer and made his way to a table along the wall and took a seat to watch the other patrons around him as he sipped his beer. None seemed to pay him much attention as he sat in the shadows letting people move around him. 

He looked on with interest as two guys around his age stepped into the room thirty minutes later looking around. He knew without a doubt they were hunters and watched as they spoke quietly to each other and then split up. One went to the bar and the other took a table across the room. He watched them closely and saw the silent communication between them. He could feel the strength and power of the older one, but there was something else there too that he couldn't quit see. Dominick studied the younger looking one and felt something about him, almost like a connection of some kind. The pull wasn't strong but it was there and wondered what it meant. He had not had this happen before and questioned the sensation.

It was after eleven when the vampire showed up, dressed to the hilt and ready to party. She was slightly shorter than he was at six foot one inch with long auburn hair and a sexy body that she was shown off in a slinky red dress and black heels. Her lips were pained blood red and she had an arrogant, haughty look on her face. He watched her survey the room looking for her prey. He wasn’t surprised when her sights landed on the one sitting at the bar and made her way over to him. 

Dominick smirked when he saw the guy act more drunk than he was, and motioned to the bartender for drinks for them. They cuddled together laughing and drinking for about thirty minutes before the guy threw some money on the bar and stood to leave with the vampire. He was sure the guy was luring her outside to take her out and watched as the tall, younger one got up to follow. He gave them a couple of minutes and got up to follow the three outside. It didn't hurt to have extra backup when you weren't sure how many vampires you were dealing with. He would watch and see what happened before revealing himself to the hunters, if he did. Dominick had a feeling these two were the hunters he had heard about, the Winchester brothers. He knew they were brothers at least, that much was visible and he hadn't heard of any others that hunted with their brother. This might be an interesting night after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean knew the minute she sat down beside him this was who they were looking for. His whole demur changed and he added a slur to his voice when the sexy looking female sidled up him and asked him to buy her a drink.

“You here alone sweet cakes?” she asked in a heavy Texas accent.

“Not anymore,” Dean replied motioning to the bartender for another round times two, holding two fingers up. “Hope you like your’s strong.” 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she cooed to him running a hand down his bicep. She brought the drink to her blood red lips and downed it in one swallow while Dean watched with an arched eyebrow. 

“My kind of girl,” he said saluting her and doing the same with his drink.

She leaned into him, giving Dean a good look at her cleavage as she ran her tongue over her lips in anticipation of her next meal. Dean played it to the hilt and waited ten more minutes before suggesting they find some place less noisy and crowded. 

“You read my mind sweet cakes, shall we?” she asked in a sultry voice as she got up waiting on him to join her. She never saw Dean signal to Sam to follow as he draped an arm around her waist and led her to the door. 

Sam watched his brother and stiffened when the woman sat down beside him. His sixth sense told him this was who they had been waiting for and watched closely waiting for Dean’s signals and saw it when he got up and they left. Sam got up and dodged the people and tables to quickly follow his brother from the club. He didn’t see the person behind him that kept pace with them. Sam kept them in sight and hurried faster when they turned down an alley below the club. 

spn

Dean kept up the act of being taken by her and allowed her to guide them toward the alley entrance. He figured she was taking him away from any prying eyes before she attacked. They were partway down the alley when she stopped and pressed him up against the wall and devoured his lips as she rubbed up against him. He tried to reach for the syringe of dead man’s blood in his pocket when suddenly she seemed to sense his change in body language and slammed him hard in the brick wall, bouncing his head off of it hard, making him see stars. A gash opened on the side of his head and blood began to run down the side of his face.

Sam was creeping up on the two and saw her kissing Dean passionately as he made ready to attack. Before he could reach his brother, someone jumped from the shadows knocking him backwards into bags of trash stacked beside an overflowing dumpster.

“Oh look Sister, two for the price of one,” she called out to the other female vampire.

“Good times, we don’t have to share tonight,” she replied as she looked at the semiconscious Dean she was holding up. “My, my can’t let this go to waste,” she cooed as she turned his face and licked the blood that was running down it. “Oh, so good....” she gushed in delight.

Sam looked up into the face of another female vampire and shuffled backwards trying to get up. She reached down and grabbed his jacket, jerking him to his feet as her fangs descended and she pulled Sam toward her open mouth. 

After Sam got his breath, he tried to fight back but couldn’t get a footing. He was able to pull his syringe of dead man’s blood from his pocket and when she pulled him up sunk the needle into her stomach and mashed the plunger delivering the poison into her system. 

She cried out in pain as her grip loosened and Sam stumbled away. He pulled out a long knife and swiped it through the air almost taking off her head, but it was enough to kill her.

“No! No!” the other vampire screamed when she saw her sister fall at the hands of the hunter. “Your friend is going to die for that!” she hissed in rage as she jerked Dean’s head sideways and started to rip his throat out.

Before Sam could get more than a couple of steps closer, the female vampire was suddenly thrown backwards into the opposite wall and pinned there. He looked on in shock as a guy dressed in black stepped from the shadows and looked at her before taking out a gun and shooting her in the chest twice. The vampire cried out in disbelief before her head slumped forward. She was released from the wall and her dead body slid downward into a heap.

“Dean?” Sam cried out rushing to his brother’s still body. He saw the head wound and pulled out a bandana to tie around it to stop the bleeding. “Wait!” Sam called to the guy as he turned to walk away. 

Dominick heard the scuffling and voices as he slipped quietly down the shadows of the alley and saw the two guys and now two females, both vampires. One had the older hunter pinned to a wall and the other had knocked down the younger one. He started to help the younger one but suddenly saw the female slump to the ground on her knees and saw him swipe a knife through the air killing her. The other was not as lucky as the vampire started to rip his throat out. 

With one simple thought, the vampire was thrown across the alley and pinned to the wall, unable to move. He stepped closer and pulled his gun firing two rounds into her chest. Once he saw she was dead, he released her body letting it fall to the ground. Dominick saw the younger man run to the older one and turned to leave when a voice called out to him.

“Can you help me? My brother is hurt,” Sam called to the guy when he stopped. 

Dominick stared to walk away and leave them, but decided to help instead. He didn't really want to get on the bad side of any hunters. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to meet the famous Winchester brothers now that he saw the truth about the youngest one. 

“Let’s get him up. Do you have a motel room here?” Dominick asked stepping back to Sam to help.

“Yes, our car’s not far,” Sam said pulling Dean up and letting this guy get on one side to help carry him down the alley. He guided them to where the Impala was parked and got him in the backseat. “Do you have a car? Is it near?” 

“Just down the block,” Dominick told him.

“Get in and I’ll drop you at it and you can follow me,” Sam told him as he moved around to the driver’s side.

“Alright,” he shrugged getting into the passenger side. 

“I’m Sam and that’s my brother Dean,” he introduced himself as he cranked the Impala and drove down the street. 

“Dominick, Dom to my friends.” 

Sam glanced over at the guy for a moment trying to get a read on him, but couldn’t. So this was the hunter everyone was talking about, he thought. 

“I’m in the silver Honda on the corner there,” he told Sam, pointing to the car.

“We have a room at the Motel Six if you want to follow me there,” Sam told him as he got out.

“I have one there too. I know where it is,” he answered closing the door and going to his car. 

It took Sam twenty minutes to get across town and to the motel. He pulled in and was lucky there was a parking space in front of their room. He pulled into it and killed the engine and got out. He went to open the door to the room before going back to open the back door of the Impala.

Dominick pulled in below the Impala and got out to help Sam get his brother from the car. Dean was mumbling and trying to stand as his body wavered and he stumbled. He got an arm over his shoulder and helped walk Dean inside and to the bed where Sam eased him down. 

“You with me Dean?” Sam asked as he taped his cheek.

“Yea...” Dean slurred slightly as he squinted his eyes against the light.

“I’ll turn the light off once I check the head injury.”

“How bad is he?” Dominick asked stepping out of the way as Sam moved around quickly gathering what he needed. It seemed he had plenty of experience doing this.

“It’s a head wound. They bleed a lot, but I don’t think it’s too bad. I need to clean it to see if he needs stitches. He might have a slight concussion,” Sam told him dropping their first aid kit on the bed and going to the bathroom to wet a towel. He came back and carefully wiped Dean’s head so he could see the gash. “I don’t think he needs stitches, butterflies will do.” 

“That’s good,” Dominick said seeing he didn’t need any help. He sat down on the other bed and waited for Sam to finish.

“There’s waters and beer in the fridge if you want something to drink,” Sam offered, his attention all on Dean for now. 

“Thanks,” he said going to the mini fridge and pulling out a beer and taking a seat at the table. He watched Sam minister to his brother and saw the strong bond between them, though it was clouded by some recent event.

Sam quickly put the butterflies on the gash and covered it with a pad for protection. He wrapped some gauze around his head and packed the kit back up. He shook a couple of pain pills from a bottle and tried to roust Dean.

“Hey bro, think you can take some pills for pain?” Sam asked him tapping his cheeks to try and wake him.

“Mmmm...Wh...” Dean groaned as he rolled his head to the side.

“Here, swallow these,” he told Dean pushing the pills into his mouth. He held his head up and put a bottle of water to his lips so he could wash them down. Part of it ran down his chin but he got enough to swallow the pills. “You can’t sleep yet Dean. Gash isn’t too bad.”

“’kay,” he mumbled wiping at his face and wincing. 

“I’ll go get some ice for your head.”

“I’ll go with you,” Dominick offered getting up too. He wanted to speak with Sam alone first to see his reaction.

“Sure, thanks for your help,” Sam told him grabbing the ice bucket and heading for the door. He took a second to size him up and saw he was around Dean's height, muscular with long, black hair that was tied back by a leather cord. His features where what most women would consider handsome and he had an air of confidence and ease about himself. 

“Anytime,” Dominick replied.

“You’re the new hunter rumors have been going around about aren‘t you?” Sam asked giving him a once over.

“I guess? I am a hunter and I am new to the states,” Dominick answered his accent coming out more.

“That accent, it’s unusual.”

“Romanian, on my mother’s side. My grandparents raised me after my parents were killed in a bombing,” he told him and continued when he saw the confused look on Sam‘s face. “My father was stationed overseas and they were at an outdoor cafe, someone left a bomb there and it went off killing over a dozen people.”

“Sorry for your loss. Our parents are gone too.” 

“I went to stay with my grandparents in Romania and learned the old ways.” 

“I saw what you did to the vampire,” Sam said cautiously, waiting to see his reaction. He watched Dominick studying him and felt uneasy for some reason.

“How old are you Sam?” he asked looking at him closely. He could sense dormant powers within Sam and wondered if he knew they were there and if he ever used them in the past. Dominick studied Sam as he saw him stiffen slightly and seemed to put up walls in his mind. 

“Why would you want to know?” Sam asked frowning at him unsure where this was leading. He opened the ice machine and scooped out ice to fill his bucket.

“Humor me.”

“I’m twenty-nine,” Sam replied cautiously.

“And did something happen to you when you were a baby?” he asked only pausing for a moment before asking another question. “Something that changed your life?”

“How do you know anything about me?” Sam asked faltering in his step as he reached into his jacket for the container of holy water. He was wondering if this guy was a demon to know this about him.

“You don’t need the holy water; I’m not a demon or shape shifter or any other monster. I don’t intend either of you any harm,” Dominick said staying relaxed. “ I’m twenty-nine too.”

“I think you need to explain yourself,” Sam said stiffly as he headed back to the motel room. “Just who are you?” he questioned almost in a growl. 

“Let me ask you this,” Dominick countered. “Why aren’t you using your powers?” 

Sam blanched at his words as his eyes widened in shock. They had not really talked about his powers since he had freed Lucifer. He thought they were gone; at least that’s what he told Dean when he asked about them and nothing else was said about them.

“You don’t feel our connection do you?” Dominick asked waiting for Sam to open the door.

“Connection?” Sam mumbled as he thought back to all those years ago to the others that were like him and jerked his gaze back to him. “You’re one of Azazel's special kids,” he said just above a whisper seeing the answer in his dark eyes. “I think you need to tell me your story,” he stated in a no nonsense voice as he walked into the room.

Dean looked up and realized there was a guy with Sam he didn’t know and he saw the agitated look on Sam’s face wondering what had happened.

“Something going on Sammy?” Dean asked Sam as he carefully slid back against the headboard and looked at the two. “Who are you?” he asked in a commanding voice making his head ache worse, but didn’t want to show any weakness.

“Dean this is Dominick, he saved you in the alley from that vampire that almost killed you,” Sam told him as he took a towel and put some ice in it and gave it to Dean for his head. “He was just going to tell me about himself. Are you up to it?”

“Yeah, it’ll keep me awake,” he grunted gently pressing the ice to his head.

Dominick pulled a chair over as Sam sat down on his bed. He cocked his head slightly as he pursed his lips in thought and looked at the two brothers. There would be no problem for him to leave. He knew neither couldn’t stop him but he was curious about these brothers, and decided it would be better to have them on his side as an ally than have them for an enemy. 

“Guess I should start from the very beginning,” Dominick said getting a feeling Sam wouldn’t take no for an answer. “So we were called special children...”

The brother looked at each other and a silent communication passed between them as they listen to his story.  
======================================================  
A/N: Did you figure it out before? So, Dom was one of Azazel's special kids too. How will the Winchester react to this news? Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you are enjoying it so far. Comments would be awesome. NC


	5. Chapter 5

Dean took the in the appearance of this stranger as he pulled a chair over and straddled it, resting his arms on the back of it. He seemed at ease, confident, a little cocky and self assured of himself. He was surprised by his words with the mention of special children. It hurt to frown and he grimaced as he tried, but looked over at his brother who was way too tense and stiff. Silent communication passed between them as Dominick paused for a moment.

"My father was an American military officer who met my mother when he was stationed in Europe. I guess you could say it was love at first site. My mother was a Romanian gypsy, a princess in her clan. My grandparents didn't like her choosing outside the clan, but when they saw the deep love between them, they allowed the marriage. A year later Dad got transferred back to the states and then eight months later I was born," Dominick explained watching each brother as he spoke. Dean wore a neutral expression on his face, other than the hint of pain showing in his eyes while Sam's emotions were painted on his face. "I learned this later when I was older, but at six months old an evil visited my nursery and bled into my mouth. Just like what was done to you, am I correct Sam?" he asked Sam point blank. 

Sam jerked slightly when he heard his name and swallowed hard before finally getting out, "Yes." 

"But something else happened too, didn't it?" 

"Our Mom was killed by the yellow eyed demon that night," Dean provided when he saw Sam not able to speak. “She interrupted him when he came into the nursery.”

"I thought as much, but I'll get to that," Dominick stated. "My Dad brought my grandparents over for the holidays that year to see me. As soon as Gram laid her eyes on me she could see it. She was a seer of their clan and had special abilities passed down to her from her ancestors. She told my Mom about it and that I had been marked by evil. Before they left, Gram did a protection spell for me that would hide me from any supernatural being trying to find me. She also did the spell on both my parents. When I was four my Dad transferred back to Europe. They both thought I would be safer over there and out of reach of the evil. My Mom would take me to visit her clan more often now and Gram would renew the strength of the protection spell. She told me she could see the powers inside of me the first time she saw me, but didn't tell my Mom because she didn't want to worry her, plus they had not presented themselves yet. I was almost seven when they were killed in the bombing. They were at a cafe having lunch and a terrorist planted a bomb there and blew it up. That is when I went to live with my grandparents. Gram started training me in the old ways of our people." He paused long enough to sip on his beer and let the memories play out in his mind. He still missed them even after all this time.

"How 'bout putting it on pause for a moment," Dean grunted as he tried to ease up from the bed. 

"What's wrong?" Sam asked getting up to help him.

"Bathroom," Dean said wanting to get rid of the wet towel that was dripping and he needed to relieve himself. 

"Let me help," Sam offered. 

"I got it," Dean told him as he stood and let the room stop spinning before cautiously taking a step toward the bathroom on wobbly legs. He made it and closed the door behind him. 

Sam waited by the door for him as he mulled over what had been told to them so far. He wondered what this training consisted of and why Dominick had even come to this country. He watched him sip on his beer as they waited for Dean to come out. He heard the water running and straightened up as Dean came out and moved to the fridge for a beer.

"No beer, you're on pain meds," Sam cautioned him when he saw him reach for one. 

"Shit," Dean grumbled under his breath and chose water instead.

"How's the headache?" 

"Still there, but not as bad," Dean replied moving back to the bed and adjusting his pillows before leaning back against them and sighing. He cast his gaze back to Dominick and waited for him to continue his story.

spn

When Dominick saw them both ready for him to continue, he began again. "As I was saying, Gram started training me in the old ways of our people. Not being raised in the clan, I had a lot to learn, but she was patient and made sure I understood the codes and the rules and my heritage. When she thought I was old enough and could understand, she told me about the evil, that you are saying is a demon, and that it had marked me when I was a baby. She had me tattooed for protection,” he said pulling his shirt neck down to show an anti-possession tattoo like they had and pulled his shirt up to show an intricate tat on his right side near his hip that they weren’t sure what it meant or did. “The clan protected me as I grew and started to come into my powers. Gram told him I was blessed with abilities that could be used for good and not the evil it was intended. She taught me how to harness my powers and control them and not be afraid of them. I was introduced to the knowledge of what is really out there behind the curtain by my Gramps. He had me training physically and taught me from the books on lore that were kept by him. I learned to hunt at an early age and learned to use my powers to give myself an advantage. When I was in my teens, two strangers came around asking questions about me, but they were dealt with by the clan. I was sent to stay with another clan for a few months to be sure the threat was over. Gramps never told me what they did to the strangers and I didn't ask," he said with a shrug. 

"What powers do you have?" Dean asked when he saw Dominick pausing in his story. He saw Sam stiffen with the question knowing how he felt about his powers.

"Well telekinesis was the first one to come out and then pyrokinesis,” he said snapping his fingers making a small flame appear at the end of his finger for a moment before snuffing it out. “Grams taught me to talk to spirits like she could and I later learned I could compel people to do what I suggested and astral projection was fairly easy to master. There might be more, but I’ve not tried to develop them in the past few years. What I have now helps me with hunting and I can’t complain. Gramps wouldn’t let me start hunting until I was sixteen and he saw I could protect and handle myself and even then he stared me off on small things so I could get a feel for hunting. I became one of the best hunters in our clan in a short period of time and was called upon by other clans when needed. I think my powers helped me to do this. I started finding my own cases to work across Europe honing my skills and saving lives. I guess this demon you are talking about maybe gave up on me since I couldn’t be tracked and was so far away. My Grams told me she had clan members here searching for information so we could be prepared and told me there were many more babies that were affected when I was and many of them died because their bodies couldn’t handle the change, it was like an allergic reaction or it drove them crazy when they realized they had these strange powers and they killed themselves. They also found that some of the mothers died in nursery fires along with their baby and some babies survived like you Sam. That’s how they tracked the kids. We learned about the disappearances of those affected about eight years ago and they were not heard from again. Did this happen to you?” he asked directing the question to Sam.

Sam looked over at Dean as if asking if he should tell him and got a nod from him.

“Yeah, I was taken by the yellow eyed demon. He told me his plan. He was going to raise a demon army and he wanted one of his special children as he called us to lead this army. He dumped us in this ghost town and waited for us to kill each other off. He figured who ever was left standing would be his leader. It ended up being me and another guy and we fought...” Sam trailed off not sure he wanted to tell him more of what had happened or not. “The demon had him open a gate to hell before we could stop him, letting hundreds of demons out into our world. Dean killed the demon before he gathered the army and we started hunting them down. A lot has happened here over the years since then.”

“Yeah, I had cousins feeding me information about what was going on here. About three years ago a creature killed, or I should say slaughtered, my Gramps and some of my cousins because they got to close to finding It and I’ve been searching for It ever since. I couldn’t let their deaths go without taking my revenge. It fell to me since I was the closest kin and Grams asked me to do it. It about broke her to lose Gramps like that, they had been together since they were twelve years old, over sixty years. But I would have done it whether asked or not. I followed the creature across Europe but It disappeared, and then I found out It came to your country. I followed It over here and have been tracking It. I have found Its victims, but have not been able to catch up with It yet. While I track the creature, I have continued hunting here too. I know Gramps would want me to continue to help people. That was what I was doing in the night club, tracking the vampire when I saw you two and knew you were hunters. I watched and followed you into the alley and you know the rest.” 

“What about the bullets you used?” Sam asked. “They don’t usually work on vampires.” He knew Dean didn’t see that part. 

“My own creation. It took me nearly a year to perfect them. I designed them to be lethal on just about any monster I ran across, unless you had to have a specific weapon to kill it,” Dominick said pulling his gun making both hunters stiffen slightly until he removed the clip and popped a bullet out and tossed it to Sam.

Sam caught it easily and squinted at it as he studied the silver bullet. He saw strange etchings on the side and it looked like the head was made differently. 

“The head has mercury laced with a special mixture made up by Grams. So far I’ve not found a creature that they won’t kill.” 

“Nice,” Dean replied as he looked at the bullet Sam passed to him. He was going to ask if they could buy some off him. They would come in handy on hunts. 

“What happened to you Sam? What’s your story? What powers did you manifest?” Dominick asked Sam.

“Nothing happened until I was twenty-two. I started having these headaches and these really strange dreams,” Sam started but stopped to look down at his hands he had clenched into fists. He willed himself to relax his hands as he drew in a couple of breaths before continuing. “I saw my girlfriend die, but thought it was just a weird dream...Well nightmare...And then when I came back from a hunt with Dean...She was pinned to the ceiling and caught on fire. If it hadn’t been for Dean I probably would have died too. We knew that was how our Mom died and that the Demon was behind both their deaths. I started having visions of future events, but I didn‘t know what they were at first. It was painful and I usually had a nose bleed. Later, I learned to exorcise demons with my mind. If I had other powers, they didn’t come out. I did things I’m not proud of and made some terrible mistakes. I released the devil and almost started the Apocalypse. Dean and I were almost killed but something or someone saved us and I thought my powers were gone, taken by whoever saved us,” Sam told him, trying to leave out the really bad things that he did, like hooking up with a demon and drinking demon blood. “I guess we’ve been fighting one bloody world ending battle after another since.”

“Word did get to us over in Europe about happenings here. But I can tell you for certain your powers are still there. It’s like there’s a force around them hiding them from you, but they are definitely there,” Dominick told him.

“How can you tell?” Dean questioned looking at Sam with concern. 

“I think all us ‘special children’ are linked by what was done to us. We can recognize each other. I didn’t know about Sam at first, but I knew there was something different with him. It wasn’t until I talked to him that I could see it in him,” he explained. “If you like I can help you reawaken them again. My Grams taught me how to do that.”

“I-I- don’t know,” Sam stammered not sure how to answer that. He wouldn’t look at Dean since he knew how he felt about his powers. Did he want them back? What would Dean think if he said yes? He could see the up side, that it would help them with hunts and might even save their lives one day.

“Look, I’m beat and could use a few hours of sleep. Why don’t we meet for breakfast later in the morning?” he asked getting up and moving the chair back to the table. "You don't have to decide now. Think on it, no ones pressing you about it. I'm cool either way, it's your choice."

“You’re not going to disappear on us are you?” Dean asked a hint of accusation in his voice. He still wasn’t sure how to take this guy and right now he couldn’t think straight with the dull throb in his head.

“No, I’ll hang around, at least until tomorrow. If you‘re up before me, come knock on my door. I‘m in room 7 on the other side of the parking lot,” Dominick told him, not fazed by Dean‘s almost threat. “Good night Sam, Dean,” he said strolling to the door and going out to head to his room.

spn

Sam waited until he was gone before talking to Dean. “What’s your impression of him?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s not lying to us,” Dean said not able to suppress a yawn. "And I can't believe his hair is longer than your's." 

“Dean, what if he could help me get my powers back?” Sam asked cautiously, not sure if this was a good time to do it, but really wanted to talk to him about it. He ignored Dean's jab about his hair and self consciously tucked a loose strand behind his ear.

Dean looked up at him as San gazed at him, uncertainty in his eyes before he dropped them. 

“Is that what you want Sammy? You want your powers back?” he asked trying to keep his voice steady and even. He knew this was a touchy subject between them and for once was going to hear Sam out without losing his temper. 

“I know how you felt about them, and what happened to me and what I did,” Sam rushed. “But look at Dominick, the powers he has and how he helps people. It could help us in hunts Dean. The way I see it, if I still have them, well, why not make use of them. Would it be that bad? They don't make me evil or crazy or want to kill someone. I know what to expect this time and I would have someone guiding me that has the powers too. It wouldn't be like last time; I would never allow that to happen. I'd like to make my own choice this time; not have someone else trick me into using them. Maybe I can do good and atone for some of the mistakes I‘ve made in the past," Sam rambled on and stopped. Dean didn't say anything so Sam spoke again. "But if you don't want me to, I won't." Sam looked away so Dean wouldn't see the truth in his eyes. He wanted him to say yes, but doubted that would be the case. Sam had not made the best decisions in the past but he wanted to change that. 

Dean clenched his jaw making his head hurt again and worked on relaxing it. He understood where Sam was coming from but he didn’t think he was in the right mind to discuss this right now since all he wanted to do was get some rest and for this headache to go away. 

“Why don’t we talk about it later today when my head’s not pounding?” he asked. “I could use a little sleep.” 

“You’re probably right, but I’m setting my cell so I can wake you in an hour,” Sam told him pulling his cell from his jacket pocket. He set it and moved to kick off his boots as Dean did the same. Neither bothered to take off their clothes as they got comfortable on the bed. He didn’t know how tired he was until he got still and listened to his brother’s raspy breathing as it evened out and both were asleep within ten minutes of each other.  
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A/N: Now we know Dominick's story and how he's linked to Sam. Will Dean say yes? Thank you for reading, comments would be great. NC


	6. Chapter 6

It was around eight am when Dominick rolled over and looked at the sunlight filtering in the room around the curtains. He lay there a minute letting himself wake up before getting up and heading for the bathroom to shower. He was usually up sooner than this, but when he could, he would allow himself the luxury of sleeping later. Since the brothers had not got him up sooner, he figured they were still sleeping. He started the shower and stripped off the rest of his clothes before adjusting the water and stepping under the hot spray. He kept his eyes closed and rubbed is face with the wetness before running his hands down his wet hair. Once it was soaked, he shampooed and rinsed it before continuing with his body, soaping it down before rinsing off. He shut the water off and grabbed a towel to dry his body and then his long hair. 

Dominick wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped from the bathroom in a cloud of steam. He went to his duffle and found clean clothes to dress in. After slipping on his boots, he made sure he was armed before stepping from the motel room and walking over to the brother’s room. He knocked on the door and waited for it to be answered. He looked up as a weary eyed Sam answered the door yawning widely as he pushed his damp hair behind his ear.

“Mornin’,” he said.

“Did you get any sleep?” Dominick asked. He stepped into the room when Sam moved letting him enter. 

“Not much,” Sam replied trying to suppress a yawn.

“How’s your brother?” 

“Not happy I woke him every hour. He can be an ass when his sleep gets disturbed,” Sam chuckled. “He’s showering and should be done soon.” 

“No hurry,” Dominick said. He sat down at the table to wait as Sam sat on his bed to put his boots on. 

“Dom, when you said you could train me, what does that entail?” Sam asked cautiously. 

“Well, the first thing is to get rid of this force holding your powers at bay.”

“How would I do that?” he asked curiosity in his voice.

Before he could answer Dean stepped from the bathroom looking as tired as Sam. The gauze and pad was gone and only the two butterfly bandages remained holding the gash closed. He let his eyes fall on Dominick for a moment before moving to the bed to sit down. He stared to reach for his boots and stopped when he leaned to far over causing a dull ache behind his eyes. He couldn’t help the soft moan that escaped before he could stop it. After getting his boots on, he stood up.

“You ready?” he asked.

“I’m driving,” Sam stated digging the keys from his jacket pocket.

“I can drive,” Dean growled.

“How many fingers?” Sam asked holding up his middle finger.

“Screw you bitch.” 

“Stop being a jerk and let’s go,” Sam huffed heading for the door knowing his brother was being a dumb ass. 

Dominick stood back and watched the encounter happen as he took it all in. There was definitely some tension going on between the brothers and he wondered what it could be. He remained quiet and followed Dean out of the room to the Impala. He got in the back and Dean got in on the passenger side. 

“That diner near the interstate okay?” Sam asked cranking the car and waiting for an answer.

“That’s fine,” Dean replied.

"I'm good with whatever you guys decide," Dom said from the back.

Sam pulled from the parking lot and headed to the diner without further comment. The inside of the Impala remained quiet on the drive over. Sam found parking and they got out to head inside.

spn

“I say we pack up and head east, find another motel to stop at and try to get some sleep. Being woke up every hour didn’t make for much sleeping this morning,” Dean suggested as they exited the diner. “Why don’t you join us?” he asked Dominick. “I don’t think we’ve finished talking yet,” he continued an underlying meaning to the words.

“I’d like to talk some more to you too,” Sam offered hoping he would come.

Dominick looked from one brother to the other as he considered the invitation before replying. He could see the earnest look from Sam, but could see a more wary and cautious look from Dean.

“Sure, I’ve not found anything else yet to check out yet,” he shrugged deciding it wouldn't hurt to tag along for a bit with them. 

“Good, it’s settled. I’m driving,” Dean commanded holding out his hand for his keys from his brother.

Sam looked at his hand for a moment and checked his eyes to see they seemed clearer and finally relented. “Fine,” he said handing over the keys. He got in the passenger seat and was going to watch his brother closely to be sure he was okay. He was happy that Dean asked Dominick to come with them. Maybe that meant he thinking about what they had talked about earlier and a glimmer of hope sparkled in his weary eyes. 

Dean drove back to the motel without any incidents and they went inside to get their things together to leave. Sam went over the room a second time to be sure nothing was left before taking his bags to the Impala and putting them in the trunk. He looked across the parking lot and saw Dominick doing the same thing. 

Dominick was going to play it cool for now, and see what Dean wanted to talk about. He cleaned out his room and packed his truck before getting in and pulling around to wait for the brothers. He could tell Sam was curious about what he told him, and was sure he wanted to try to access his powers. Dominick could hear it in his voice when he talked about the powers, but it would be his decision and he wasn't going to press the matter. 

He was sure what stood between him doing it was his brother. He wasn’t sure how Dean felt about Sam having powers to begin with, so there might be some tension there. Dominick would not come between the brothers he knew that. Whatever was decided, if Sam said no, his powers would not be mentioned again; if he said yes, he would do what he could to help him. 

He felt something was off with Dean but wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it had to do with what he heard about him disappearing for over a year and magically coming back. He was going to tread lightly with both brothers before deciding whether he would hang around with them or not. He fell in behind the Impala and followed them out toward the interstate.

spn

“We got rooms with adjoining doors,” Sam said through the window to Dean. “Follow me.” 

Dean cranked the car back up and slowly followed Sam around behind the office down to the end to two rooms. He parked in front of one and Dominick eased in beside him. Sam had the door opened to one of the rooms and came back to grab his bags. Dean stopped him from going in until he gave the room a sweep and nodded it was okay. This was never going to change, Dean always made sure the room was safe before allowing Sam to enter. They went in, Dean dropped his bag on the bed nearest the door and Sam took the other one. A knock came on the door that led to the room beside them and Sam went to open it allowing Dominick access to the room. He leaned against the door jam with his arms crossed waiting to see how this was going to play out.

“Alright,” Dean said closing the curtain and double locking their door. “It’s one now, let’s try to catch four or five hours of sleep and we’ll get some dinner and talk.”

“Fine with me. Wouldn't hurt to get a couple more hours of sleep,” Dominick replied. “I’ll see you guys later.” He pushed off from the jam and headed back into his room, closing the door but not locking it. 

“You want the bathroom first?” Sam asked as he pulled some cotton pants out to change into. He sat on the bed and waited his turn as his eye drooped and his shoulders slumped. Dean was not the easiest person to deal with and an even worse one when he was injured. Every time he had to wake him up during the morning hours, it was like waking up a wild animal. He made sure to stay out of his reach each time he rousted him. 

“Yeah,” Dean mumbled opening his duffle to dig around for some sleep pants and bathroom bag before heading into the bathroom and closing the door and leaning back against it. He was running on empty and the dull ache had not let up all day. He moved to the sink to start his routine and then change clothes so he could hopefully get some much needed sleep. 

Sam looked up when Dean stepped from the bathroom and shook himself slightly to get his body woke up enough to get up and shuffle to the bathroom. When he came out, Dean was already in bed and almost asleep. He watched him bury under the covers and pulled the blanket at his feet up over his body letting it settle there. 

"Good night Dean," Sam whispered softly before going to his own bed and turning back the covers to crawl in and settled with a sigh as his body sank into the mattress.

spn

Mumbling voices could be heard through the door but Dominick didn't focus on them as he found sleep clothes and went into the bathroom to change. He could have listened to what they were saying, but didn’t think that would be wise. He came out and pulled the covers down before lying down and pulling the blanket up over his body. He had slept early this morning and wasn't as tired as the brothers. Dominick cleared his mind and went deep into meditation, slowing his breathing and heart beat. He let his spirit travel to the place between worlds in search of his grandfather. Ever since his grandfather's murder, he had been seeking him out for advice and to see if he had any information to help track down this creature so it could be killed. 

"Gramps are you here?" Dominick asked looking around until he spotted someone walking toward him. 

"Grandson, it's been a while," his grandfather's spirit finally spoke. 

"I know, I have left Europe, It’s moved to the states now and I followed." 

"You were getting too close; you have to be careful It will not like being cornered. You know how dangerous It can be." 

"I have found some other hunters here that might be able to help." 

"That is good, but do be careful, make sure they can be trusted."

"I know Gramps, but I have a connection with one of them. He's like me. He and his brother are some of the best hunters there are here. I think their help would be valuable, if they agree to work with me."

"It would be good for you to have backup." he started and saw Dominick roll his eyes. "I know you like to work alone grandson, but sometimes it is not safe, especially with this creature. You've seen first had what It can do."

"I know Gramps, I know," he said sadly as images flashed through his mind of when he found the bodies.

"None of that now, how's my love doing?" 

"She misses you very much, but is trying to keep herself busy with the clan business."

"Will you give her my love and let her know I miss her too and that I will always be with her in spirit."

"I will Gramps, I love you," Dominick said.

"And I you grandson."

"I should get back, good-bye Gramps." 

Dominick drew in a slow breath as his spirit came back into his body. He let his eyes roam the room for a moment before as his spirit and body merged completely. Deciding he might as well try to get some more sleep, he turned to his side away from the window and got comfortable. Dominick let his mind settle as he let himself drift to sleep.

spn

A soft knock woke Sam and he looked around and saw Dean still asleep in the bed beside him. He got untangled from the blanket and sheet and hurried to the door before Dominick knocked again. 

“Hey,” Dominick greeted him.

“Hi, Dean’s still sleeping,” he whispered looking back at the bed.

“I wanted to see if take out would be okay and we could eat in the room instead of getting ready and going out.” 

“Let me change and I’ll go with you. We can wake Dean when we get back. Give me five minutes.” 

“That’s fine, just come on in when you’re ready.” 

“Okay,” Sam said closing the door and quietly going to his duffle to dig out clean clothes. He went into the bathroom to change and wash his face. When he came out, Sam found a piece of paper and scribbled a note in case Dean woke before they got back. After slipping on his boots and jacket, Sam let himself into Dominick’s room to find him sitting on the bed waiting for him.

“Shall we go to that steakhouse down the road? I’ll drive,” he offered.

“Fine with me. Dean would probably like a good steak for dinner,” he replied. Sam followed Dominick out to the parking lot and waited for him to unlock his truck so he could get in. After he pulled out, Sam decided to continue their conversation from earlier. “If I was to agree to let you train me, how would you do it?” 

“Well, first I would guide you through the steps to remove the force so you could access your powers again and then train you on how to use them. You may have ones you don’t even know about.”

“Do you think it would take long?” 

“I can’t say. We’d have to see how long and hard it is to remove the barrier and then you would have to re-learn how to access your powers again. Are you interested in doing it?”

“I want to....” Sam started but stopped.

“But you don’t know if your brother will want you to?” Dominick finished for him.

“Yes, Dean wasn’t all that happy when he found out I had abilities. To be honest, I think they scared him. I didn't handle them well and made some horrible choices in my life. I let them come between us," Sam admitted. "There were a lot of hunters back then who distrusted psychics, and some would even kill them." 

“Yeah, some are like that. They’d rather lash out than trying to understand us.”

“It didn’t help that some hunters learned from demons about the special children and what the Yellowed Eyed Demon wanted us for. They thought we were going to fight on the demon's side against humanity. They thought we were all evil and should be killed.” 

“I take it that included you?” Dominick inquired glancing over at Sam.

“Yeah, one became obsessed with killing me, even broke out of prison to hunt me down and kidnapped Dean to lure me out.” 

“Doesn’t sound like a pleasant chap.” 

“He wasn’t; I had to kill him when he got turned by a vampire and tried to kill me.”

“It seems you and your brother have some rather...Interesting stories about your life.” 

“I guess,” Sam mused not really seeing it like that. They had been dealt a shitty life as far as he was concerned.

“I sense some tension between you and your brother,” he noted seeing Sam stiffen slightly with the remark.

“Well, that’s a long story too,” Sam replied not explaining any further as he looked away.

“Shall we go get something to eat?” Dominick asked as he found a place to park at the steakhouse. 

“Yeah, Dean is in a better mood when he has a full stomach,” Sam said getting out of the truck and heading for the entrance with Dominick close behind him.  
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A/N: Thanks for reading the story. I do like to know your thoughts. Comments would be great. NC


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Dean makes a decision and gives an offer. Hope you are enjoying the story. I do like to know your thoughts, please leave a comment. NC  
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Dominick opened the door between the rooms and stepped through the doorway carrying bags of food only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw the cocked gun in Dean’s hand pointed at his chest. Sam didn’t notice him stopping until he ran into his back.

“Hey what’s...” Sam started until he saw Dean sitting up in bed with a gun pointed at them. He saw the wild, unseeing look in his brother’s eyes and pushed Dominick behind him. “Dean, hey it’s us, you can put the gun down man...” Sam said cautiously trying to break Dean’s trance. “You know me, I'm your brother. You’re not there anymore, remember? You got out. You went through the portal and came home. ” 

The words finally got through to Dean after a minute as he slowly lowered his gun and blinked rapidly before bringing Sam into focus. He looked around the room for a moment as everything started coming back.

“We brought food so we wouldn’t have to go back out,” Sam told him when he saw recognition in his eyes. He didn't question what happened with Dean knowing he wouldn't talk about it.

“Good, I’m hungry,” he mumbled getting up to go to the bathroom as Sam and Dominick moved to the table with the food and drinks. He didn't mention what just happened to either of them. 

“Sorry about that,” Sam whispered to Dominick as he looked toward the bathroom door.

“I could tell he was trying to hold something back,” he commented. “But I guess that’s a long story too.”

“Yes and one that is Dean’s to tell. He wouldn‘t be happy if I told it.” 

“What’s for dinner?” Dean asked coming from the bathroom, interrupting their conversation and acting like nothing had happened.

“Steak,” Sam replied taking containers from the bag and sitting them around the table. “I got sautéed mushrooms on yours.”

“Thanks bro,” Dean said. He took a seat at the table and opened up the container looking the food over before opening the plastic ware to start eating. He looked at the plastic knife and tossed it aside to pull out a real knife to cut his steak with. Dean didn't see the annoyed look from Sam or the indifferent look Dom gave him as he began to eat. He mainly ignored them as they followed suit and began to eat too.

Dominick glanced between the brothers but didn’t say anything about what had just happened. He knew it was better to remain quiet and watch and wait. He was a patient hunter and could be invisible when he needed to. From Dean’s blank stare, he thought he might not remember what had transpired when they walked into the room. He didn’t know where Dean though he was, but it must have been a bad place. He finished eating his food about the same time as Sam and gathered his trash to throw it away. 

“Now that hit the spot,” Dean sighed wiping his mouth as he leaned back in his seat content. He didn’t stop Sam from gathering up his trash and clearing the table. “Alright, now that we’ve had some rest and ate, I guess we should talk.”

Sam and Dominick sat across from him and waited for him to continue. Sam had an anxious expression on his face as he tried to sit still. He wasn’t sure what Dean was going to say. He didn’t want to go against his wishes if he said no to him trying to access his powers again. 

“I think we can help each other here,” Dean started, staring hard at Dominick. “You’re trying to track down a creature that is killing people here. Sammy and me are the best hunters around, so we could help you track it and dispose of it.” He paused for a moment before continuing as he looked at Sam. “And in return, you can help Sam with his powers.” 

Sam sat up straight when he realized what Dean had said. “Are you serious?” he asked not able to keep the excitement from his voice.

“Yeah Sammy, I heard you before; I was listening. I've got to quit treating you like a kid, you're an adult now and I need to let you be one. You're old enough to make your own decisions. If you truly want to try this, it’s your choice. I shouldn’t be making it for you. That's been done enough in your life by so many others. I'm not taking it away from you again. But if I see its harming you or changing you, it stops. No questions asked. Agreed?” 

“Thanks Dean,” Sam said. "I agree of course," he agreed eagerly.

“So whadda you say? You wanna work together and find this creature?” he asked. “And help Sammy out?”

Dominick looked between the two brothers for a moment before he spoke. “Sure, the more hunting It, the quicker It can be found.”

"Alright kid, tell us all you know about this creature you are tracking,” Dean said getting down to business. 

“Let me get my laptop,” Dominick said getting up to go into the other room. 

“Really Dean, thanks,” Sam whispered sincerely after Dominick stepped from the room. He pulled his composure together before he came back with a laptop and sat back down.

“I’ve been researching this creature, Devorator Al Inimilor," he said in the clan's language. "The Devourer of Hearts for as long as I've been hunting, but put all my efforts into it when my family was killed by It." He started his laptop, letting it boot up. He tapped on some keys and pulled up a folder containing his research. "It's all in here, there's a lot of articles from every source I could find." 

Sam pulled the laptop closer and clicked on the file. He was surprised at the size of it and found a table of contents to scroll through. "This is a lot of data."

"How 'bout giving me the cliff notes," Dean said. He glanced at what Sam was looking at, deciding it was more than he wanted to sift through. 

"Sure, it was called, Devorator Al Inimilor, Devourer of Hearts, by Romanians or Dolor Cordis, Heart Consumer or Cor Comedenti, Heart Eater, by other cultures in Europe. It is an ancient creature and has been around for centuries from my research. I went back as far as documentation would let me,” Dominick explained to them. "It uses glamour to disguise Itself by taking on human form to lure prey away so It can kill them and rip their hearts out to eat. There are no pictures of It or really a description but that It has sharp claws that It uses to rip the chest open with. This is what has kept It alive all this time; It's how It has survived. The devourer prefers warm hearts but will eat others that are less than 24 hours old and prefers young people since their hearts are more tender and not diseased like older people. It will go on a killing spree in one place and then leave to find another town. It puts people into a trance like state so It can take their heart. It can go into hibernation for periods of time to disappear when threatened." Dominick paused to sip on his drink as he let what he said sink in for the brothers. "Have you come across anything like this here?"

"No, I think we would remember something like that," Sam said for the both of them when he saw Dean was in a thinking mode.

"I found references to this creature as far back as words were written or glips were drawn. There were accounts from letters, journals, notes, scrolls, tumes, lore, and hieroglyphs from all eras. During all the major wars, WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam War, there are documentations that tells of soldiers finding their buddies missing arms, legs, etc and their chest's ripped open and heart missing. The Devourer feasted during these times, but now there are no wars, so it has to resort to other measures to survive. It left Europe after killing my grandfather and several cousins when they got too close. It came to the US to avoid me because I think I was getting too close to finding It.”

“So how do you kill it? Did you find that in all your research?” Dean asked.

“It can only be killed by silver that had been concentrated and blessed by the church. You can see It with a thermal heat vision camera because It cold blooded. That way It can be picked out of a crowd of humans easily. I have one and can have my cousins get two more for you two. I have a couple of cousins that are running programs to track deaths with hearts removed. They'll contact me with the info and I'll follow up to see if it's the creature.”

"I can set up an algorithm too,” Sam said. “Wouldn’t hurt to have another program checking out things.”

“That will work. Alright...I’m going on a beer run while you two geek out,” Dean said getting up knowing he had heard enough. He knew how to kill it. He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door before either could say anything to him. 

“He doesn’t mean to be...Abrupt like that; that’s just his way of coping and sorting things out,” Sam told Dominick after Dean had left. “He’ll be planning even if it doesn’t look like that.”

“Not offended. This is a lot to take in at one time. I’ve had years to deal with it,” he shrugged.

Sam scrolled through some of the articles and maps he had put together and was impressed with the detail of everything. After a few minutes, Sam looked up at Dominick and asked, “So....How do we start?” 

“Let’s go to my room and maybe I can see what we’re working with,” he offered getting up and heading into the adjoining room.

Sam got up and followed him into the other bedroom. He stood at the foot of the bed not sure what to do since there was only one bed. 

“Get comfortable on the bed,” Dominick instructed him as he flipped off the overhead light and turned on a small lamp by the bed before he moved a chair up beside the bed. “Stretch out and relax.”

Sam did as he was told and stretched out on his bed. He couldn’t help but be tense as he watched Dominick sit in the chair beside the bed. 

“You’ve got to relax Sam. It’s not going to hurt or anything,” Dominick assured him as he slid close enough to take his pulse, waiting for it to slow. He kept contact with him so he could sense his progress.

“Yeah, right...” Sam mumbled as he shook his one free arm out and worked on letting the tension roll off his body. 

“Close your eyes and clear your mind,” he instructed. “Slow your breathing now, slow even breaths, listen to my voice and shut everything else out. Feel and hear your heartbeat as it pumps blood through your body. Concentrate on its beating, let it fill your mind. You’re floating on a cloud, your body is weightless. It‘s light as a feather and you can barely keep it on the bed,” he said in a soft, soothing voice. He studied Sam’s body as he worked on relaxing it. He waited twenty minutes before continuing so Sam could sink deeper into a trance. “Look inward into your mind Sam, you’re searching for that place that is closed to you, that you can’t see in to. Let the gold string unwind behind you, that will show you the way back. Go slow, don’t push it, let it happen naturally, look deep within yourself.” 

Sam worked on doing what Dominick wanted and relaxed his muscles as he slowed his breathing and tuned everything else out around him. He had done some meditation years ago and tried to use the techniques he remembered. He listened to Dominick’s soft voice telling him to slow his breathing. His body began to feel lighter and it was like he floated out of it. He looked down at his hand and saw a spool of gold thread. 

Sam began to move through the mist that surrounded him searching for a place he couldn’t access. He seemed to be walking for a long time before he heard a voice calling him back. He focused on where the voice was coming from and turned around to see the soft glow of the thread and began to wind it up as he moved back through his mind listening to the voice that continued to get louder. 

Dominick heard the door of the other room open and close, and heard Dean in there. He felt his presence in the doorway as he looked into the room at them. Dean didn’t say anything with what he saw and stepped back into the other room. After another fifteen minutes, he brought him back.

“Come toward my voice Sam, you need to come back, follow the gold thread, it will bring you back. Nice and easy now, take some deep breaths,” Dominick whispered as he felt his heart beat begin to get stronger under his fingers. “That’s it, you can open your eyes now Sam.” 

Sam drew in some longer breaths before slowly opening his eyes to look around the dimly lit room. He started to raise his head, but decided against it when the room started to spin. 

“Take it easy at first, let you body and mind merge again,” Dominick cautioned him. “It’s going to feel strange at first but you’ll get used to it the more you do it.”

“Yeah....” Sam coughed as he cleared his throat and let the dizziness pass. “How’d I do?”

“Not bad for the first time. You have to understand this won’t happen overnight. It may take a little time to break through and you will probably get discouraged, but it’s up to you whether to continue.”

“Right, I get that,” Sam said. “I need to have patience.”

“Dean is back.” 

“Okay. I should get up now,” he said easing up to the side of the bed and pausing long enough to be sure he was stable before getting up to move to the other room.

“Beer?” Dean asked when he saw Sam and Dominick come back into the room. 

“Yeah, sounds good,” Sam said. He could tell Dean was curious about what they were doing, but knew he wouldn’t ask about it. He caught Dean looking him over as he passed out beers to them. Sam knew this was Dean in big brother mode and he wasn’t going to change. He had learned to deal with it over the years and took it all in stride.


	8. Chapter 8

"So how are you feeling Sam?" Dominick asked an hour later as they finished their beers. 

"Okay I guess," Sam replied glancing at Dean who looked at him closely.

"No headache or pains of any kind?"

"No, I feel fine." 

"I'd like to try something else if you're up for it," Dominick offered. He saw Dean stiffen slightly but he didn't say anything as they waited for Sam to answer.

"Sure, I'm good," Sam said sitting up straighter in his chair. 

Dominick got up and went to his duffel to get something before coming back to the table. He placed a blue candle in a crystal holder in front of Sam and struck a match to light it. Once it was burning brightly, Dominick moved closer to Sam and ignored Dean who watched closely to be sure Sam was in no danger.

"Now, Sam just relax and stare into the flame. Concentrate on the colors, the flickering glow, empty your mind of thought, just look into the fire,” Dominick instructed him in a soothing, soft voice. “Watch it dance and the colors swirl within it. It’s calming you, relaxing you. Your eyes are starting to get heavy and you can barely hold them open. Let them close, let yourself drift free.” Dominick waited a few minutes before continuing. He felt Dean shift across from him, but didn’t take his attention off Sam. “Now Sam I want you to look inward into your mind. What do you see?” 

“Doors...” Sam mumbled. 

“Good, now continue and look for something you didn’t create, look for a wall, a barrier of some kind maybe. Don’t be afraid of it. Can you see anything?”

“No...” 

“Go deeper Sam, look where you don’t venture, look in on yourself.” 

Sam's body twitched and stiffened with a frown on his face. He remained still but his body twitched randomly.

“What do you see?” Dominick asked.

“A wall, tall, dark, blocking me....” 

“Can you touch it?” 

“Yes...” Sam raised a hand like he was touching something in front of him. 

Dean made no attempt to leave when Dominick came back with the candle wondering what he was going to do. He had set in on séances before and knew the color of the candle meant something but wasn’t sure what. He wasn’t sure what Dominick was going to do, but didn’t think he would try summoning a spirit here. As he began to speak, Dean realized he was trying to hypnotize Sam. He wasn’t sure how susceptible he would be to that and just watched as Sam stared into the flame and his eyes glazed and had an empty look. He listened to the soft voice as his gaze locked on the flame and almost let himself be drawn under before he blinked rapidly and jerk out of it. Dean tried to remain quiet as he shifted in his chair and drank the last of his beer. He didn’t pay attention to the questions asked of Sam but watched as he raised his hand like he was feeling for something in front of him.

“What does it feel like Sam?”

“Smooth...Cold...” 

“Hit it, is it hard?”

“Yes....But flexible...There's give...”

“Hit it harder Sam,” Dominick said in a stronger voice.

Dean didn’t expect the sudden blow to the table from Sam’s fists that had the beer bottles toppling over with one rolling off the table to the floor before Dean could grab it. Dominick had caught his bottle before it spilled and raised his hand toward the bed, making a pillow come to him. He laid it on the table as Sam hit it again harder. 

“What is happening Sam?”

“It’s vibrating....Almost talking...Giving slightly....” Sam huffed as his hands came down again on the pillow Dominick had put under them. He would pause for about fifteen seconds between each strike, like he was judging where to strike next. 

“That’s it Sam, what do you see?” Dominick questioned after about fifteen minutes of him slamming his fists into the pillow.

“It’s cracking slightly....Slivers of light....” he replied his becoming strained as he tried to put more force into each hit.

“Stop Sam, enough for today.” 

Sam suddenly stopped pounding the pillow and sat there with his eyes closed breathing long, deep breaths. 

“What do you see?”

“Cracks in the wall. Small slivers of light trying to shine through...”

“You can come back now. On the count of three you will wake up and will remember where you found the wall in your mind. One, two, three, wake up now.”

Sam drew in a long breath as he blinked his eyes and looked at them and down at the pillow his hands were resting on before flexing his fingers. “I found it!” he said brightness in his eyes and a satisfied tone in his voice.

“That you did,” Dominick told him.

“Why didn’t you let me continue?” Sam asked in frustration. “I could have broken through.”

“You were getting too agitated,” Dominick said.

“Yeah Sammy, too agitated,” Dean mimicked as he used napkins to wipe up the spilled beer. He had the trashcan up against the table and was pushing beer and wet napkins into it. 

“Maybe one or two more times and you’ll have the wall down Sam. And then we will see about waking up your abilities. It doesn’t have to be done in one day. For that matter, it is best that we pace ourselves and let your body adjust to the changes that are going to be happening. You are strong Sam, but we need to proceed with caution."

“Alright, if you say so,” Sam huffed wiping his face. He rubbed his temple feeling an ache in his head now.

“You okay Sammy?” Dean finally spoke up. He could tell and sense he was in pain. “Need some meds?”

“It’s okay, I’ll get a couple of Tylenol,” he said getting up to go to the bathroom and take something. He moved slowly and carefully, not wanting Dean to see just how bad he was feeling.

Once Sam was out of the room, Dean turned to Dominick. “I didn’t think it was going to be painful.”

“It’s not, but he has to tear the wall down, there could be some residual effects from doing that.”

“What about using his powers? Last time he had nose bleeds and major headaches.”

“It shouldn’t be as bad this time, he’s used them before so he knows what to expect this time and he won't be fighting them. If he really wants to do this, they will come naturally this time.” 

They both stopped talking when Sam came back into the room to join them. Dean didn’t mention anything about the demon blood that Sam had got addicted to the first time he used his powers not thinking it was relevant and not his story to tell. None of the other ‘special children’ had needed the demon blood and neither did Sam, they found out in the end. It was all part of Lucifer’s plan to get him hooked on it so he would be more manipulative to do their bidding.

“Why don’t we get ready for bed?” Dean suggested. “Let’s get a good night’s sleep and we’ll head out in the morning and find a place to stay while we wait on word about the creature and it’ll give you two time to work together.” 

“That is fine with me. I will see you in the morning,” Dominick agreed, giving them both a nod before heading back to his room and closing the door between the rooms.

“Go on and get ready for bed Sammy, maybe the rest will ease your headache.” 

“I will,” Sam replied. “I can feel it Dean, I was breaking the wall down,” he said before gathering some sleep clothes and stepping into the bathroom without further words.

Dean stared at the bathroom door deep in thought about what he was letting Sam do. He wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision or not, but he couldn’t take the choice away from his brother. Maybe he was right; if he could access his powers again it would make their job easier. He just wanted to be sure Sam didn’t lose himself in the process. 

spn

It was the early hours of the morning when Sam woke up. He lay there a moment before quietly getting up and going to the bathroom. He came out and crawled back into bed and settled in the warm spot he had just left. Sleep evaded him and he thought back over the past couple of days. Sam closed his eyes and slowed his breathing as he willed himself to relax. He turned his mind inward and started to look once again for the barrier that was there. 

His breathing got shallow and his heartbeat slowed drastically as he moved deeper and deeper until he had found the wall. Sam looked at the wall, and could feel vibrations coming from it, especially where it was cracked. He stood in front of it taking it in before stilling himself and drawing back to hit it as hard as he could. He didn't feel any pain in his hand as he did it again, feeling it waver and give slightly. This gave him the desire to punch it again and he hit it harder. He was panting when some of the wall started to crumble under his fists. He smiled in satisfaction when he saw more light peaking through and suddenly something was tugging on him.

Dean wasn't sure what woke him as he jerked awake with a snort. He let his head roll back and forth on the pillow for a moment before pushing himself up to a sitting position. "You awake Sammy?" Dean looked to the other bed waiting for him to answer. "Sammy? Sam?" he asked before getting up and going to his bed when he didn't answer. He pulled the blanket back enough to see Sam lying motionless on the bed. "Hey bro..." Dean shook Sam's shoulder but didn't get a response. He pressed two fingers to his throat, feeling for a pulse that was barely there and saw how shallow his breathing was. Sam's skin was cool to the touch and his arms were stiff with hands drawn into tight fists. "Sam! You need to wake up!" he yelled loudly. "Dom!" Dean called going to the door and knocking hard before returning to Sam. 

"What's wrong?" Dominick asked opening the door and stepping into the room. 

"Something's wrong with Sam," he told him looking helpless at him. 

Dominick went to the bed where Sam was lying not moving. He placed a hand on his chest and pulled an eye lid back to look at his vacant eye. He sat on the bed beside him and placed both hands around his head and closed his eyes as he pulled Sam back from the far reaches of his mind. At first there was resistance, but finally he latched onto him and tugged hard. He dropped his hands and leaned back as Sam suddenly pulled in a shaky breath and rolled his head.

"Sammy?" Dean asked moving to sit by his side to cup his face making Sam look at him confusion on his face. 

"Wh...D...." Sam slurred wetting his lips and trying to swallow to wet his dry throat. 

"Hold on," Dean told him as he got up and grabbed a bottle of water. "Drink." 

Sam grabbed the water and eagerly guzzled some, choking and coughing when he drank too fast. He sat up in bed and pushed back enough to lean against the headboard.

"Easy there tiger, not so fast," Dean insisted pulling the bottle from Sam's mouth. "What the hell were you thinking dude? You 'bout gave me a heart attack."

"S'ry," Sam gasped in a rough voice. 

"You really shouldn't be doing that on your own Sam," Dominick chastised. "You had no anchor to help guide you back." 

"What are you saying?" Dean asked. "That Sammy could've been trapped in his own mind?"

"Yes," Dominick answered. "And I don't know if I could have brought him back."

"You hear that bro? No more mind searching on your own," Dean demanded in a stern voice. 

"I won't," he croaked out, taking the water back from him to sip it. "It's breaking," he told Dominick. "The cracks are getting larger." Sam's eyes were dancing with excitement as he rubbed his hand down the blanket on his bed. 

The action didn't get by Dean and he grabbed his hand to look at it. He noted the redness and slightly swollen appearance as he checked them out and noticed they were cold. He gently rubbed Sam's hand between his own before laying it back down. 

"Is this normal? Would he have injuries like this?" Dean asked Dominick.

"Normally no, but I'm finding that Sam is different," Dominick shrugged looking at Sam with interest making him look down guiltily. 

"Since we're all up, might as well get packed and head out," Dean decided.

"I made some calls and found a place for us to stay. One of my cousins has a place about seven hours from here. It's not fancy but we can stay as long as we like for a couple hundred bucks."

"How many cousins do you have?" Dean asked. 

"Well, everyone in the clans are related one way or the other," Dominick chuckled. 

"Fine with me, you can lead the way. We'll stop on the way out for breakfast." 

"I'll go finish packing," he said leaving the brothers alone.

"Promise me you won't do that again Sammy," Dean told him once they were alone.

"I'm sorry Dean, I thought if I could just work some more on the wall the sooner I could break it down." 

"Promise me." 

"I promise."

Sam could see the worry in his brother's eyes and felt guilty about doing that to him. He never thought it would be dangerous or that he could be trapped in his own mind and not be able to get out. He got up and found clean clothes to put on and stuffed everything else back in his duffle so they could leave. When they got to the new location, he hoped to start working on the wall again with Dominick's help this time.

He didn't want Dean pulling the plug on this and knew he needed to be more careful.   
=======================================================  
A/N: Sam won't be trying that again. He doesn't want Dean to stop him so he needs to be more careful. The wall will be down soon and then Sam needs to learn to use his abilities again. Comments are great. NC


	9. Chapter 9

Dean pulled the Impala up beside Dominick's truck and parked. He looked out the windshield at a one story, clap board, tan house that could use a new coat of paint on the outside, but seemed in fairly good shape. The yard needed mowing, but that was nothing major. He could see other houses on down the road but there wasn't one close by which was good. He preferred the privacy. They got out and waited as Dominick moved to a flower bed and began to look at the rocks that made up the wall. He picked one up and pulled a key from it before climbing the two steps to the porch to unlock the door. He went inside and the brothers followed. 

"I had my cousin turn the power on and get us some basics until we can get to the store. Looks like he gave it a quick sweep and dusting at least." he said flipping on a light so they could see. "There's two bedrooms, kitchen/dining area, family room, bath and laundry room. It's not big, but will save us some money and give us more privacy than a motel room." 

"Suits me," Dean said. He looked into each room and found one bedroom with two full size beds, dresser and stuffed chair. "This our room?"

"Yes, the bathroom is just down there and that bedroom is mine." 

"Let's get our things out of the car and get settled in then." 

"I'm going to walk around outside," Sam mumbled going back outside to stroll around in the yard and headed for the backyard behind the house. He couldn’t tell Dean that this house brought back memories he was trying to forget of a time when he lived in a house very similar to this one with someone he fell in love with. He never thought he would find that with anyone, but it had happened.

When Dean and Castiel disappeared and Kevin was taken by Crowley, Sam ran from everything. He had no one left and he didn't know what to do. He didn't stop until he hit a dog in a small town in Texas, called Kermit. He met a kindred spirit in the vet, who treated the dog, because she had recently lost her husband. He had been killed in combat overseas and she was as lost as he was. They found a common bond that pulled them together.

He tried to have a normal life with her, and had that for nearly a year. But after he learned Dean came back and her husband was alive, Sam had to make a difficult choice. He returned to his brother and hunting, knowing he couldn’t continue to live the life he had made there. A melancholy mood came over him and he needed some time alone to sort his thoughts. 

Dean watched Sam trudge out with troubled eyes, but didn't say anything knowing he was in one of his moods. Things had not been that easy between them since he had gotten back from Purgatory. Sam had quit hunting when Castiel and him had been sucked into Purgatory after they killed Dick Roman. He had fought and killed and survived a year in that place to come back and find Sam had not even looked for him. This almost broke him and he didn't know if they would ever get back to what they had, but they were trying. Things had gotten some better now and they both had worked on moving past it. He grabbed all the bags from the trunk and took them inside.

"There's nothing around here to worry about is there?" Dean asked Dominick, wanting to be sure Sam would be alright out there alone.

"Sam should be safe, unless one of my female cousins gets a look at him. If word gets around, I may not be able to fight them off." 

"That's the least of my concerns," Dean chuckled. "Wouldn't hurt if he got laid."

"I don't think the parents would see it that way I'm afraid. You don't want an angry gypsy father of the girl after your brother. Nor the curse that will follow."

"Yeah, see what you mean. Don't need that on our plates too. I know Sam's not asked and I'm not sure he wants to know, but...Can you tell what put the wall up this time in his head?" 

Dominick studied Dean for a moment and didn't miss the slip about 'this time' and wondered what other wall had been put up and why. He saw a flicker cross Dean's face when he realized he let something out that he didn't mean to but it vanished as quickly as it came. He could feel Dean closing off and didn't try to pursue it. 

"I honestly don't know. I can tell you it wasn't Sam that put it up. If it had been it would be much easier to break down. No this was someone that wields tremendous power to be able to do that. I've never run across it before. I've seen minds scrambled, changed, invaded, warped, but not a wall to keep things inside. It being breakable though means whoever did it was allowing Sam a choice. If he never messed with it, I guess it was stay there forever."

"Thanks," Dean mumbled as his mulled over what Dominick said. He wondered if God had put it up or some other powerful being. He was sure Death had no hand in it since the last time.

"I'll see what I can find to fix for dinner tonight." Dominick offered when he saw Dean wasn't going to talk further.

"I'll make some coffee," Dean said.

"So what happened to you?" Dominick asked changing the subject. He continued when Dean frowned not sure what he was referring to. "I heard some hunters talking, said you both disappeared for over a year. Some thought you had gotten killed."

"Long story short, when you gank the head Leviathan don't stand so close or your ass ends up in Purgatory." 

"That's a first, a human in Purgatory and you even escaped it," Dominick replied looking in the fridge to see what it had been stocked with. He pulled out eggs, milk, deli ham, mushrooms and cheese, deciding to make omelets for everyone. He looked in the cabinet for some spices to add to the omelet like his mother showed him.

"You know about Purgatory?"

"General knowledge only; read about it somewhere in one of Gramps books. I know monsters go there when they are killed, but never heard of a human being there. Much less getting out of the place. How did you manage that?" 

"Believe me you don't ever wanna go there. It's not a place to take a vacation. It's kill or be killed in that place. You could never let you guard down if you wanted to survive. It's an endless cycle that you can't break free from. But it seemed God made a portal that only humans can pass through, I guess sort of a fail safe. I had a little help finding it and, well, here I am," Dean stated with a shrug. "I'm going to check on Sammy and be sure he's not got lost."

"Okay, I'll get dinner going. Is an omelet good?"

“Yeah that’s fine.” Dean turned and headed for the front door to go outside to see where Sam disappeared to. He looked around the front yard but didn’t see him, so he headed down the steps and around the house the way Sam had gone. He found him sitting on a bench under a tree behind the house. Sam was staring out into the forest beyond the yard lost in thought. Dean stood there for a few minutes looking at him before moving closer. “Hey Sammy, you okay?”

Sam startled for a moment before gaining his composure. He cleared his throat before answering. “I’m fine.”

“Dom’s making omelets for dinner, why don’t you come on back in and wash up?” Dean asked. He didn't think Sam wanted to talk about what was on his mind and wasn't going to press him about it. If he stayed in this mood, then he would broach the subject. He knew Sam still thought about the life he had made for himself while he had been trapped in Purgatory. Dean knew he had always wanted something like that, even growing up. He had given him a choice to go back to it or stay with him. He needed to choose. 

“Alright,” he sighed. Sam pushed himself up from the bench and moved to follow him back around the house to the front door and went inside. Sam continued on to the bathroom and Dean went into the kitchen to find Dominick getting ready to cook the omelets.

“Good you’re back; I’ll have omelets ready shortly.” 

“Alright. Sammy should be out in a few minutes.”

Dominick had two frying pans getting hot to pour the beaten eggs into and fill with the other ingredients. He let the eggs cook before adding the filling and flipping it in half. Sam came into the kitchen by the time Dominick was plating the omelets. 

“Right on time, have a seat you two,” he told them taking the plates to the table.

“You want water, milk, juice or coffee Sammy?” Dean asked.

“Water’s fine,” he replied, stepping to the table and taking one of the four chairs sitting around the small table. 

“Go ahead and start eating while they’re hot, I’ll have mine done in a moment,” Dominick said. He stepped back to the kitchen to fix his so he could join them.

“Dig in Sammy; you haven’t eaten much all day. You need some nourishment to keep your strength up.” 

“Alright,” he said cutting off a bite and putting it in his mouth. He chewed it slowly, savoring the tastes that exploded in his mouth. “It’s good Dom.”

“Really good,” Dean agreed as he ate his. “So, where’d you learn to cook this good?”

“My Mom and Grams taught me. She said I needed to know how to snag a good woman,” he replied as he took a seat and started to eat.

“Are you married? Girlfriend?”

“No, I find this job doesn’t lead to many long term relationships. I was on the move too much over the years.” he replied. “Do you want to work some more after we eat Sam or are you tired?”

“Yes I would, I‘m fine,” Sam said quickly, anxious to have another go at the wall. He didn’t think it would take much longer and he would have it down. Then the real work would begin for him.

“Don’t push yourself too hard Sammy,” Dean cautioned him. He knew Sam was anxious to get rid of this barrier and to work on his powers, but he didn't want him wearing himself out doing it.

"I won't Dean; Dom will stop me if there's a problem, right?" Sam asked looking to Dom.

"Of course. I will be sure to watch him closely Dean. I won't let anything happen to him." 

"Be sure of that," Dean said. He gave Dom a serious look to be sure he understood the meaning behind his words. 

Dom didn't take offense to Dean's unspoken threat but didn't comment on it either. They continued to talk about random things as they finished their meal. 

Once the kitchen was cleaned, Dominick turned to Sam and spoke, “Shall we go to your bedroom?”

“You’re not going to hypnotize me?” Sam asked. 

“No, I think you have better control going in like the first time, and I can aid you more that way,” he replied.

They got up to go to the bedroom and Dominick paused to turn back to Dean who hadn’t moved. 

“You can come too, but you have to be quiet and don’t interfere; it could cause problems,” he offered. 

“That’s okay, I’m going to look for a case nearby,” he said looking to Sam for a moment before getting his laptop and settling at the kitchen table. 

“Very well.” 

Dean watched them disappear into the bedroom he was to share with Sam and took some deep breaths. Every cell in his body wanted him to get up and follow them and watch to be sure Sam was okay. He didn’t think Dominick would harm Sam, that is if he valued his life, but he wasn’t sure he could just sit there if Sam needed him. Soft, soothing music drifted from the bedroom as he wiped a hand down his face and went online to check out websites for anything that might be a hunt. Even if Sam couldn’t hunt right now didn’t mean he couldn’t. He needed something to do while Sam did his thing. It might be better if he wasn’t around during this part of it. He could be a distraction for Sam taking him longer to train.  
==========================================  
A/N: Sam is getting close now. It won't be long before the wall is down and his training can begin. Thank you for coming along for the journey. Comments do make my day. NC


	10. Chapter 10

“Why don’t you lay down on your bed and get comfortable?” Dominick told Sam once they got were in the bedroom.

Sam kicked off his boots and stretched out on the bed adjusting the pillow and making himself comfortable. Once he stilled, Dominick sat down beside him at his hip. He took Sam’s wrist and pressed two fingers to it to find his pulse that was beating steadily. He could feel it quicken slightly as Sam tried to prepare himself for what came next. Dominick took his cell out and put on some slow, eerily haunting tune and lowered the volume so it could barely be heard.

“Alright Sam, remember how we did this before, take slow even breaths and calm yourself. Let your body relax into the mattress. Let your mind empty of all thoughts,” Dominick said in a soft, soothing voice. It almost had a lyrical note to it. “Focus on my voice only. Nothing else matters. Remember, you are safe in this room, on your bed. You may see things in your mind that upset you, but they can not hurt you. Are you ready?”

Sam nodded his head and began to take slow, even breaths as he listened to Dominick’s mesmerizing voice. He worked on shutting his mind down and concentrated on his soft voice as he felt his body grow lighter. He found himself standing in the mist again and looked slowly around.

“Now Sam, think of the spool of gold thread and see it in your hand, you will use this to guide you out. Look deep into your mind, search for what should not be there. Don’t focus on your memories, let them pass, they can not hurt you. Keep going deeper and find the wall again.” 

Sam continued to listen to the soft voice and looked at his hand to see the spool of gold thread. He began to move through the mist of his mind, seeing closed doors, barely visible but he didn’t bother opening any of them. Flickering images caught his attention the further he walked, like screens playing out past memories from different times in his life. He saw childhood, his teen years, college, and adulthood. He saw Dean and him hunting, his father and Bobby and others he knew. He tried to not dwell on the ones that showed his worse memories. Sam couldn’t help but stumble when his time in the Cage splayed out on several screens showing the torture he had endured from the two archangels. He didn’t know his body had stiffened and he was clenching his hands into fist. 

“Keep going Sam, remember what you’re seeing is in the past, don’t dwell on them...” a quiet voice said in his head. “Keep looking, you’re almost there, it’s hidden within your memories...” 

Splinters of light caught Sam’s attention and he moved toward it, letting the gold thread trail along behind him. It seemed to take forever, but he finally reached the wall and could see the larger cracks now in it. 

“I found it,” Sam said.

“Good, you have full control in here Sam and can do what you like. Put the thread in your back pocket and picture a large hammer in your hand,” the voice whispered like a gentle breeze in the trees. “You know it will make your job much easier to break the barrier down.”

After stuffing the spool of thread in his jeans’ pocket, Sam concentrated for a moment and looked down at the sledge hammer now in his hand. He raised it to his shoulder and turned back to the wall. He drew on his strength and swung the hammer at the wall, feeling the vibration all the way up his arms and into his body. He saw small chunks break away and fall and did it again. The cracks grew larger and more chunks fell away. It seemed to take forever before suddenly a large section collapsed at his feet. He moved down a short distance and drew in a long breath and swung with all his might striking the wall with everything he had. Strong vibrations ran both ways down the wall and cracks spread outward like a spider web. He stepped back quickly as the entire thing crumbled letting the hidden light burst forth, almost blinding him. He couldn't see but felt something rush past him like a warm breeze on a summer's day. It didn't feel foreign, but more like a part of him was finally free and he felt whole.

“You did a good job Sam, now it’s time to come back,” the voice whispered in his head. “Follow your gold thread back out, it should be easy now. Make your way back, I think your brother is getting overly concerned.”

Sam shielded his eyes as the light escaped from behind the wall until it finally grew dimmer. He blinked several times to clear his vision and heard the voice again whispering to him to come back. He saw the hammer was gone and so was the crumbled wall. Sam got the spool and began to walk away, rolling it up as he went. He paid no attention to the memories surrounding him now and seemed to fly out of his mind. He drew in some deeper breaths and felt his body grow heavy again as he raised his hand to wipe his face before letting his eyes flutter open. All he could see at first were just shadows with one moving closer to him. He stiffened slightly until he was able to see it was his brother standing next to the bed looking down at him with a worried look on his face.

“Sammy?” Dean questioned.

“I’m fine,” Sam croaked out, trying to make enough salvia to wet his mouth and throat.

“Here,” Dean said holding out a water bottle. He helped Sam sit up and lean against the headboard so he could drink the water.

Sam grabbed the bottle with a shaking hand and brought it to his mouth to greedily take several long swallows. It felt like his body was dehydrated and needed the water.

“Let me get you some juice,” Dean said. He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice and headed back to the bedroom to offer the glass to Sam. “Drink this.”

Sam accepted the glass and held it with two hands as he took long swallows, relishing the sweet taste. He could feel his body soaking up the nutrients of the juice and leaned back against the headboard with his eyes closed. 

“I did it Dean,” he said not opening his eyes.

“I was getting a little worried there Sammy, you were gone for nearly four hours.” 

“What?” he asked in surprise. “It only seemed like a short period of time, not near that long.”

“That’s not unusual,” Dominick commented. “Time is not the same when you’re delving into your mind. Now that I can see you better without the barrier, I can tell you the demon blood did not create the powers you have. You were born with them. I think the blood only enhanced them and allowed them to come forward.” 

"So I might have been psychic even without the demon blood?" 

"Yes, now whether you would have learned to use them, I don't know. They may have laid dominant all your life and you would have been none the wiser. But the blood boosted the powers and opened them up for you. Now all you need to do is learn control over them."

“Do you have a headache or any pain?” Dean asked as he listened to them talk. This was unsettling in a way to know Sam had powers all alone. He put on a neutral face not wanting to upset Sam with his concerns. 

“Little headache, nothing bad.” 

“You should rest now Sam, that took more out of you than you realize,” Dominick said.

“Yeah, Sammy go on to bed, I can see it in your eyes,” Dean added.

“Alright,” Sam agreed handing the empty glass to Dean and moving to sit on the side of the bed. He paused for a moment before standing, to be sure he wasn’t dizzy, and went to his duffle to get sleep clothes.

Dean moved into the hall and watched to be sure Sam made it to the bathroom before heading back into the kitchen, followed by Dominick. It was late but he knew there would be no sleep for him until he let himself unwind. Seeing Sam laying there barely breathing, scared him, but he held back when Dominick held up a hand for him not to interfere. Whatever he was saying to Sam, Dean couldn’t hear no matter how hard he listened. Dean finally breathed a sigh of relief when Sam started to move and his eyes began to flutter until he opened them. He could tell they were strained and weak looking as he tried to focus on him.

“Is he okay?” Dean asked Dominick once they took a seat at the table.

“Yes, he’s tired is all. More mentally than physically. Taking the barrier down, took a lot from him, but after a night’s sleep, he should be okay.”

“So now he can start training?”

“Yes, and I’m thinking Sam’s a fast learner so it may not take long for him to learn how to control as least some of them.” 

“Good.” 

“I felt the strong connection you and your brother have. That is a rare ability in its own right. I think you and Sam have a much stronger bond than either of you realize.”

“We’ve always been close and it grew stronger after our Mom was killed and I pretty much took over raising him.” 

“I can tell you carry much on your shoulders Dean, if you ever need to talk...” 

“Thanks, but I’m good right now,” Dean replied stiffly. 

“Sometimes its easier to talk to an acquaintance than one that is close to you.”

Dean mulled over what he said but knew things were to fresh and raw right now for him to talk to anyone. Maybe if he had a few shots, he might loosen up, but that was for another day. He heard Sam come out of the bathroom and go into the bedroom, listening closely to be sure he made it okay. 

“I’m heading for bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” Dominick said.

“Okay, nite,” Dean told him. “I’ll be heading for bed shortly too.” He watched the young hunter walk down the hall and disappear. He wished he had some whiskey, but had to make do with a beer for now. Dean wondered if Dominick could read his thoughts like Missouri Mosley, a psychic and friend could. He wasn't sure if he liked the thought of that since there were things he didn't want anyone to ever know. Things that were buried deep in his mind and locked away so they wouldn’t ever find the light of day. He didn't want to relive them, nor have anyone else know about them.  
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A/N: Sam has the wall down and the training can begin. It won't be easy for him, but this is something he does desire. We are halfway through the story now. I hope you are enjoying it. Comments are great. NC


	11. Chapter 11

Sam woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and rolled over to see the other bed was empty. He wasn’t sure of the time, but could tell it was past dawn. He lay there for several more minutes before the need to use the bathroom won out and he got up. Sam made his way down the hall to the bathroom and did his morning routine before wandering toward the kitchen searching for Dominick and his brother. The kitchen was empty, as was the family room. He poured a cup of coffee and doctored it before venturing to the back door and out onto a small deck where he found Dean and Dominick sitting in lounge chairs quietly talking. 

“I see you finally are back among the living,” Dean said.

“Why didn’t you wake me when you got up?” Sam asked.

“You needed the rest. You feeling hungry?” 

“Maybe after I drink my coffee,” Sam replied taking the empty chair beside Dean.

“Alright. We’ll have some breakfast and I’m going on a supply run while you and Dom start your training.” 

“Okay...And you sure you're alright with that?” Sam asked in a soft voice while looking sideways at Dean. He really wanted his brother's approval above all else and if Dean said no, he would accept it. 

“Yeah Sammy. Do what you need to do,” Dean said without hesitation. "It's time you took control of your life and do things your way. You know I'd only stop you if it seemed they were harming you in some way."

“Thanks Dean. I appreciate the support. Will you pick up some fresh fruit and yogurts?” 

“Already on my list. How are you feeling this morning?” Dean asked seeing Sam rub his temple like he had a headache.

“Okay,” he replied, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

“What is it Sammy?” Dean urged. “Don’t lie to me.” 

“I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel a little different, kind of off in some way,” he told him looking to Dom for an answer.

“That’s not unusual Sam. You released your powers and now your mind is having to deal with them. It has to determine where they fit now so you might feel the effects of that,” Dominick offered. 

“Good to know,” Sam nodded as he sipped his coffee, hoping the caffeine might help. 

“I’ll go start some breakfast so I can get the supply run out of the way,” Dean said. He got up to go back inside, leaving them alone on the deck.

“So how is this going to work?” Sam finally asked.

“Well the visions that you had before is something you can’t control. You can’t make yourself have them from what I have studied. What was your first one?” 

Sam stiffened and clenched his hands together into fists as his first vision came forefront in his mind. He bit his lower lip trying to find his voice to talk. After clearing his throat, Sam whispered softly. 

“I saw my girlfriend die a horrible death.” 

“I’m sorry to bring up such sad memories.” 

“It’s okay; it was a long time ago...” he said looking away. “I thought at first it was just a nightmare and never told her about it. I might could have saved her if I had...” he started not able to finish his thought. 

“I doubt that Sam. There are some things that are destined to happen and we can not change them. You have to forgive yourself for that tragedy. You could not have stopped it from happening. Fate dealt you a terrible hand. If she hadn't died that way, it may have been some other way.” 

“Thanks, but it's still hard to think about.”

“Let me ask this, Dean mentioned that you had headaches and nose bleeds. Did this happen all the time?”

Sam thought for a moment before replying. “With the visions I had a headache, but the more I had the less painful they were. The nose bleeds were when I forced the power. Like when I exorcised demons. It would feel like my head was exploding the harder I tried to use it. Then I started to...” Sam stopped suddenly when he realized he almost told him about the demon blood. “It lessened the more I did it,” he continued trying to cover his mistake. 

“You’re not telling me something Sam.” Dominick chastised him. “If this is going to work you have to be honest with me. Whatever you tell me will stay between us. I would never tell anyone what we discuss, not even your brother.” 

Sam looked down at his clenched hands not sure he could reveal this about himself. He was ashamed and humiliated with what he had done, even if it was in the past and would never happen again. Before he could say anything, Dean stepped to the door and called to them.

“Come on and eat while it’s hot,” Dean said.

“We’ll talk about this later Sam, after Dean goes to town.” 

“Alright,” Sam answered getting up to follow him inside.

spn

“Did you look over the list and add anything you might want?” Dean asked Sam as he put on his jacket. 

“Yes, I did add a couple of things,” Sam replied. 

“Dom, did you check it too?” 

“Yes, I think you covered everything.” 

“Okay then I’m off. I’ll take my time so you two can do your mumbo jumbo.” 

“That’s fine.”

“Do you have an ice chest I can use to keep the cold stuff cold?”

“Yes, check the laundry room on a shelf in there,” Dominick told him.

“Thanks, I’ll have my cell on if you need me,” Dean said. “Sammy, be careful and don't over do it the first day.” 

“I will Dean, don’t worry,” Sam tried to assure him. 

Dean gave him one last glance and silent communication passed between them before he turned to leave. Sam watched him get in the Impala and drive away as his anxiety heightened. He wasn’t sure how Dominick was going to react if he told him the truth. What if he decided not to train him because of it? What if he decided not to work with them? There were too many unanswered questions rolling around in his head that he didn’t hear Dominick talking to him.

“Sam, would you like to sit outside on the deck or in the family room?” Dominick asked again when he saw Sam didn’t hear him.

“Outside I think. I like the fresh air.” 

“That’s fine, shall we?” he asked getting up and heading out onto the deck. 

Sam grabbed a bottle of water and followed him taking a seat in one of the lounge chairs next to him. He waited for him to speak first.

“So shall we continue our conversation?” Dominick nudged gently getting a feeling this was a touchy subject for Sam.

“I’ll have to give you a little background information first,” Sam started. “You already know about Azazel and his ‘special children’ since you’re one of them. I died in that ghost town we were taken to and Dean...Well he made a deal with a crossroads demon. It brought me back and Dean had a year to live before he would be dragged to hell. I tried everything, and I mean everything to try to break his deal but...” Sam trailed off trying to find the courage to continue. “But I couldn’t stop it...I couldn’t stop Lilith, the demon who held Dean’s contract, from taking him. He was dragged to Hell by hellhounds. When that happened I went off the deep end. I tried to make my own deal, but no demon would touch me. I looked for a spell, ritual, incantation, voodoo, hoodoo, magic, anything to bring him back, but couldn’t. I failed him and it broke me. I began to drink heavily and the only thing that saved me was a demon named Ruby. She said she could help me find Lilith so I could kill her. I wanted revenge and would do anything to get it. She told me I could make myself stronger faster if I did something and I was too weak to resist...” he stopped not sure he could say anymore.

“Go on Sam, I’m not going to judge you for it,” Dominick said. “I have my suspicions, but I need to hear it from you.” 

“I started drinking demon blood. I trusted her and she got me addicted to it. She trained me to exorcise demons with my powers so I could kill Lilith when we found her. She said I needed it to build my powers and be strong enough and I believed her. But that was what the angels and demons both wanted. They wanted Lilith dead because with her death, Lucifer was released from the Cage,” Sam whispered, afraid to say it any louder. He remained quiet with his head hung down, waiting for Dominick to say something.

“It’s alright Sam. That doesn’t change my opinion of you in any way. I can see how you were being used to do their bidding. You were vulnerable and easy to manipulate. It wasn’t your fault Sam,” Dominick tried to assure him. 

“Ruby told me I didn’t need the blood to increase my powers. It was a choice I made to drink it, to become addicted to it. It was the worse mistake I could have made. It clouded my mind and I...” 

“Okay, put that out of your mind. I want you to close your eyes and take some slow, deep breaths and try to relax. I can tell how tense and anxious you are. Go on now, deep breaths Sam.” 

Sam closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. He pushed those memories back behind the door and shut it as he listened to the sounds around him concentrating on them as the tension slowly began to drain from his body leaving him feeling slightly weak. 

“That’s it; I can feel you mind easing. So I know you had visions and could exorcise demons, was there anything else you could do?” 

Sam thought for a moment before answering, “One time I was able to move a dresser from in front of a door so I could get out. But I only did it one time.”

“What caused you to do it?” he questioned.

“I saw Dean being killed in a vision and knew I had to stop it from happening.” 

“Okay Sam telekinesis is not that hard once you master the concept of it,” Dominick explained. “We’ll start with that since you were able to do it before. You need to see it in your mind and focus your energy on making it happen.” 

Sam listened to him talking and watched as he lifted his bottle of water from the small table and held it in the air for several moments before sitting it back down with ease. 

“Now you try,” he told Sam.

Sam moved a little to see the water bottle easier and frowned as he concentrated on lifting it. He forehead furrowed deeper as he tried to picture it in his mind. He focused all his energy on the bottle seeing it rise in his mind, but it didn’t move from the table. He struggled for ten minutes before huffing madly and sat back in his chair. 

“It’s okay Sam; I told you it takes some practice. Accessing your powers won’t happen overnight. You have to let it happen and it will. I can sense them in you now and they are strong. Give yourself a few minutes and try again. Don’t try to force it; it’ll come on its own accord. Think about how it felt before. I know Dean’s not in danger, but try and duplicate that action. I’m going to leave you out here to practice, but don’t over do it. You might get headaches at first since you’ve not used them in a long time, but that will stop when you start using them again.” Dominick got up and strolled back inside, leaving Sam along on the deck.

Sam settled back in the lounge chair and tried to bring that memory back to him. He tried to feel the urgency and need to get to Dean after the vision he had of him dying. Sam looked at the water bottle and knitted his brow together as he willed the bottle to move; even an inch would suit him for his first attempt. He tried holding out his hand and pushing his will through it, but still the bottle wouldn’t move. 

“Damnit! Why won‘t it move?” Sam muttered as he slapped his hand down on his chair arm. 

“Relax Sam, I can feel your frustration all the way in the house,” Dominick’s voice sounded in his head.

Sam jerked around looking for him but saw he was alone on the deck. He wasn’t sure what to do and whispered in his mind, “Can you hear me?”

“Of course. Now that your barrier is down we can talk without talking.” he chuckled sensing Sam’s surprise. 

“Can you do this with anyone?” 

“No, we’re connected so it’s easy for us. There are others who can communicate with anyone they want. Now I want you to try again, and go easy on yourself. After you master this it will be like second nature to you to do it.”

“Alright.”

Sam squared his shoulders and wiggled around in the chair for a moment and looked at the bottle again. He let his eyes roam up and down it, remembering the feel of it, how the plastic was cold to the touch. He saw it move in his mind and pushed out with his thoughts again, but this time focusing on the bottom of the bottle. He whispered in his mind, move, move, and pushed again. He watched closely as the bottle swayed slightly and doubled his effort when suddenly the bottle tipped over making him jump and set it up before all the water poured out. Sam swept his hand over the table top to brush the spilled water from it. 

“I did it...” Sam whispered in excitement. He could feel a dull ache behind his eyes when he stopped trying to move the bottle. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but it was a start and actually more than he expected for his first attempt. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples for a moment making the dull ache ease. He could hear Dean's words in his head to not over do it and let himself rest before trying again.  
================================================  
A/N: So, Dom knows more about Sam and what he went through and the training has begun. We will explore several psychic abilities as the story progresses. Thank you for reading. I do like comments. NC


	12. Chapter 12

Dean took his time at the store and when he was bored trying to waste any more time, he headed for the checkout and waited in line. He took his bags to the car, separating the things that needed packed in the ice chest from the other before heading back to the house. Dean wasn't sure what he would find and made sure he had a neutral expression on his face as he pulled up to the house and parked. He got out and opened the back to grab bags to take inside. He found Sam and Dominick in the living room listening to some music. 

"Need help?" Sam asked getting up.

"There's a few more bags you can get," Dean said studying him as he passed, trying to tell if he was okay.

"He's fine Dean. I'll let him tell you about it." 

"Alright," he replied as he started taking items from the ice chest to go in the fridge. 

"This is the last of them," Sam said sitting his bags on the counter. He started pulling items out and sitting them on the counter for Dean. He smiled to himself when he found a crossword puzzle book in one of them. He hadn't even asked for it and looked up at Dean with brotherly love. 

"So you going to tell me what you did?" Dean asked keeping his voice neutral.

"I turned a water bottle over," Sam said. 

"And did you mean to do that?" 

"Well, no...I just wanted to move it, but it didn't work out." 

"How's your head?" he asked. “Have you taken something?”

"How did you know?" Sam questioned, thinking he was doing a good job at hiding the annoying ache behind his eyes. 

"You do know who you're talking to don't you?" Dean admonished. "What don't I know about you?"

“It’s not too bad. I’m letting it ease off before trying it again.” 

“I was impressed for his first time,” Dominick added. “I told you he would be a fast learner.” 

“If you mean spilling my water, then yeah,” Sam huffed. “I’m going to go try again in a few minutes.” 

“Remember what I said Sam, don’t over do it. You don’t have to learn it all in one day,” Dominick cautioned him.

“I know, but I want to see if I can at least move it today; even if it’s only an inch,” Sam told him. 

“Have you been drinking anything? Maybe had a snack?” Dean asked. “You need to stay hydrated and keep your strength up.” He tossed a bottle of Gatorade toward him and watched as he fumbled slightly before getting a grasp of it. That right there told Dean what he needed to know.

“Yes Mom,” Sam said sarcastically almost dropping the bottle Dean threw at him. 

“Bitch,” Dean said.

“Jerk,” Sam replied automatically. “I’m going back out on the deck.” 

Dominick didn't say anything regarding their exchange of words getting a feeling it was something they had been doing since childhood. He tried to picture their lives growing up and wondered if maybe someday they would feel comfortable telling him some stories. 

spn

“Alright, total honesty here. Is he okay?” Dean asked Dominick when Sam was out of ear shot.

“He is doing better than I expected. You shouldn’t worry so about him,” Dominick replied.

“That boat has sailed. That’s my job, taking care of my little brother. Has been my entire life, thought some times I did a piss poor job of it.” 

“Is Dean asking about me?” Sam said in Dominick’s head.

“Yes, did you expect less?” he asked.

“No, I guess not. Don‘t tell him we can do this.” 

“If you like. Sam, don’t be so hard on yourself. You know your powers are there, let your body and mind accept them and it will come easier.”

“Alright. I‘ll try.”

“You okay?” Dean asked Dominick when he saw him sort of space out for a moment.

“I am fine,” Dominick replied before turning to head for the bedrooms. “I am going to check in with my cousins to see if they’ve found anything.”

“Alright, I need to do a few things too,” Dean said taking his laptop and going into the family room. He hoped there was a hunt nearby he could focus on and take his mind off his brother. He was worried about him, but knew he couldn’t stop him from doing this. He couldn't take this away from him, not now.

spn

Sam felt uncomfortable about not telling Dean he could communicate with Dominick this way, but had a feeling he wouldn’t like it or might feel jealous or left out. There was still some tension between them since Dean had come back from Purgatory when Sam had to admit to him he never even looked for him. He saw now how wrong that was, but at the time, he was lucky to even be able to take care of himself after they killed Roman. He had to deal with the fact he was totally alone for the first time in his life and it almost broke him. He drew in a deep breath before bringing his mind back in focus. 

Sam sat the empty water bottle back on the small table and worked on relaxing. He thought about what Dominick had told him. These powers were a part of him, something he could either accept or reject, but they were not going away. It surprised him to learn he had been born with them. He calmed his mind knowing if he was going to do this that he had to make his mind up. There couldn’t be no in betweens here; it was all or nothing. Sam needed to accept who he was and what he was so he could embrace his powers.

A sort of peace settled over him and he looked at the empty bottle again. He pushed out, letting his power flow from him and watched as the bottle rocked slightly. He frowned slightly and did it again, smiling as the bottle slid across the table a few inches. He could feel a stirring in his mind as if he was exercising sections that hadn’t been used in a long time. It actually felt good, like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He stared at it again and pushed, watching the bottle glide across the table and fall off with a clink to the deck. 

“Yes!” Sam said. Without really thinking about it, Sam held his hand out and willed the bottle to come to him. It moved on the floor for a moment and then he smirked as it rose to his hand. He closed his hand around it and sat it back on the table. He looked out into the trees behind the house listening to animals and bird sounds that echoed through it. He felt a giddiness and a sense of freedom that he had never felt before. A twinge of pain sparked behind his eyes for a moment and blinked it away. It was not as bad as before and knew he could handle it. He knew this was only a tiny step, but it was a start for him. He continued to move the bottle around and lift it from the table to hold it there before sitting it back down. The more he played with the bottle, the more natural it felt and easier to do. 

“You seem in a better mood," Dominick commented as he took a seat by Sam. “Did you make some progress?”

“Yes,” Sam said looking at the bottle and moving it toward Dominick. “I know it’s not much but its a start.”

“Better than I expected. It seems you’ve come to terms with things. Am I correct?”

“I though about what you said and decided to not fight my powers,” Sam replied. 

“Good choice. After you‘ve gotten better with this we will move to something else. Pretty soon it will be like second nature to you and you won‘t even think about it when you use them.” 

“Okay. I‘ll keep working at it.”

“Try to move heavier things and holding them longer,” Dominick suggested. “The more you use your power the easier it will be and it may open you up to other powers that you have.”

“Do you think I’ll start having visions again?” he asked cautiously.

“I can’t say, but there’s a good chance you might. Try moving that chair.” 

Sam turned to look at the chair on the other side of the small table and focused his attention on it. He clenched his jaw and his nostril’s flared as he willed the chair to move with no results. He pulled in a deeper breath and tried again, but this time he opened up more and heard and saw the chair move away from him slightly. 

“Trying too hard again Sam,” Dominick commented.

“I know,” he grunted, feeling that twinge of pain again in his head. He drew in a slow breath and looked at the chair again. He opened up his mind feeling a stirring inside of him that was different than when he had visions. He pushed out again and smiled with pleasure as the chair moved back from the table.

"See, it's not hard once you see you can do it," Dominick praised. "Did you feel it?"

"Yes, it was....scary at first but it's starting to feel like it's a part of me and not some foreign curse." 

"Good, now that you have accepted them, things will be easier going forward." 

spn

The morning sun was warming the air as the three hunters sat on the deck. Sam and Dominick were training and Dean was on his laptop looking for a hunt. They had been there for nearly a week and Dean was starting to get restless. He needed a hunt to keep busy since he was never one to be idle. 

"Dean, would you mind helping us?" Dominick asked getting his attention. 

"Sure, what do you need?" he asked looking up from the laptop.

"Will you hit me?" Dominick suggested standing up. 

"Why?" Dean questioned arching an eyebrow.

"I want Sam to see how it is stopping a human with his powers." 

"Alright." 

Dean got up and moved to stand in front of Dominick, his body relaxed and calm. He watched Dominick carefully, cocking his head slightly before throwing a punch only to be stopped inches from it making contact with him face. 

Sam watched with interest knowing his brother and how he fought. He would let you make the first move and hold back, then when you least expected it would take you out. He studied Dean's body language and saw when the punch was going to be thrown. Sam looked on in surprise as Dominick stopped the punch with no effort at all. 

"Neat trick," Dean said when Dominick let him go. 

"You try Sam, don't let him hit you." 

Sam took Dominick's place and watched Dean as he smirked. He didn't take his eyes off his face, knowing Dean would let him know when he was going to react. He flinched slightly when the punch came and was surprised with the force he released causing Dean to stumble back a couple of steps. 

"Seems like you're getting the hang of this," Dean surmised as he got his balance and rubbed his hand that was tingling. 

"Are you okay?" Sam asked when he saw Dean's reaction.

"So did you feel the difference?" Dominick asked.

"Yes, I think so."

"You react without thinking about it. It's your body's defenses protecting itself. That's what you've got to remember. You can rein it in a little with humans since they're softer." 

"I get it."

"Since it looks like you've got this down, I'm going to check out a possible hunt not far from here," Dean told them.

"Not without me," Sam insisted.

"You sure? You don't wanna stay here and....Practice?" 

"I say we all go and Sam can practice on the real thing," Dominick suggested.

"What did you find?" 

"There's a guy accused of murdering his girlfriend, but swears he didn't do it. He said there was someone else there in the house but the locals can't find any evidence of anyone else being there. He said he thought they disappeared through the sliding glass door. The town's only a couple of hours from here, thought we could at least check it out," Dean shrugged.

"Like maybe a ghost?" Sam asked. "Maybe the house is haunted because someone was killed there or something happened there."

"Could be."

They went their separate ways to grab their bags before meeting at the door to leave. Dean opened the trunk to drop their bags inside before heading to the driver's side of the Impala. Sam automatically took shotgun and Dominick was happy to have the backseat to himself and stretched out remaining quiet as he listened to the brothers talk between themselves. They were a formable team, even if there was some friction between them, but he could feel the power of the bond that held them together.   
===========================================  
A/N: Sam is allowing himself to accept the powers and is learning to master them. We will see in the next chapter how he does on a hunt. Thank you for reading my story. I do like comments. NC


	13. Chapter 13

The Impala moved slowly down the streets of the small town that looked like most of the other towns they had visited over the years. They could tell where newer, more modern, areas had sprung up overshadowing the small town charm. 

"Guess we should head for the lockup and see if we can talk to the guy," Dean commented pulling into a gas station. "You pack your suit?"

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"We'll drop you at the local diner, don't think you can pass as FBI with that hair," Dean told Dominick staring at his hair that hung down his back pulled together in a leather cord.

"So this is how you gather your information? You pose as FBI?"

"That or US Marshalls, Park Rangers, priests, counselors, whatever fits the bill. We've got to go change, wanna pump the gas?" Dean asked tossing a credit card his way as he got out. 

"How do you do it?" Sam asked as they got out on the same side. "Get your info for hunts?"

"My abilities and cousins. I have family scattered across Europe and this country that are in all walks of life and we never say no to family. It is a tradition, you help family and you are rewarded for the deed. Not all of us are wanders and vagabonds like the gypsy stereotype implies." 

"I guess it's good to have a big family then. We don't have that option so we do what we have to." 

The brothers took their suits from the back and headed for the restroom to change while Dominick filled the car and waited. He was finding the brothers rather interesting to work with. It wasn't long before they came back out dressed in suits and got in the car. 

Dean found what looked like a busy diner about five blocks from the police station and dropped Dominick off with a word of caution, don't ruffle any feathers. They continued on to the police station to see about talking to the prisoner. 

Dominick walked into the diner and glanced around as some of the patrons turned to look at him but after a moment turned back to their food. He found out that small towns had their on pecking order where gossip was concerned and picked a seat near some of the older customers knowing they liked to talk more about what was going on than young people. He ordered a soda and looked at the menu deciding on a turkey club sandwich and fries so not to look out of place. 

He didn't pay attention to the waitress as she tried to flirt with him when he heard two of the older gentlemen mention the recent murder. He pulled his cell out and pretended to answer a text as he took some quick notes about the case. The guy in custody was named Stan Rogers and he was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Jamie Wilson. He heard another say something about his first wife dying nearly a year ago and he was suspected of killing her, but there wasn't enough evidence to arrest him. Dominick was wondering if he had killed her and got away with it.

spn

Dean and Sam walked into the police station and looked around waiting for the desk sergeant to get off the phone.

"May I help you?" he asked looking down at the badges they produced.

"FBI, could we speak to who's in charge of the murder investigation of Jamie Wilson?" Dean asked in a professional, no nonsense voice.

"One moment," he replied picking up the phone. "If you will have a seat the detective will be out in a moment."

"Thanks," Sam nodded moving to sit in one of four chairs lined along the wall. He began to dig around in his pocket when his cell chimed he had a text. Sam pulled up the screen and read it before showing it to Dean, arching his eyebrows at him. It looked like Dominick had found out some information at the diner.

"Hello, I'm Detective Ramsey," a middle aged, black man introduced himself. 

"FBI, Agent Stills and my partner, Agent Wilson," Dean greeted him shaking his hand.

"If you'll come back to my office we can talk," he said leading them to the back. Once they were seated in his office he looked at them and spoke, "I'm not sure what the FBI would be doing investigating a local murder case."

"Our boss's boss wanted us to come check it out. Seems like there's some distant family connection or something. We don't question our assignments, just go where they tell us," Dean shrugged trying to be vague and sound believable.

"What can you tell us about the murder?" Sam asked trying to change the subject. 

"The victim was Jamie Wilson, thirty-three, no criminal record, worked as a bank teller at the local bank in town. She had been dating Stan Rogers for about three months. Got a call from a neighbor that heard screaming coming from the house and when we showed up Rogers was stumbling out of the house with blood on his hands. We found Jamie in the kitchen, she had been stabbed numerous times and the murder weapon was on the floor beside her. Both their prints were on the knife. There was no one else in the house when we arrived and no forensic evidence to show anyone else was with them. They had been seen in a heated argument a couple of days prior. It's pretty straight forward case from what we have."

"How about this Rogers guy claiming a ghost did it?" Dean asked.

"I'd say he's trying to cop an insanity plea." 

"Wasn't his first wife murdered too?" Sam inquired. “Was that case ever solved?”

"Yeah, that was nearly a year ago. It looked like a B & E, but there were suspicions it was staged. Poor woman just found out she was pregnant. We were sure he did it, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge him with it. The murder weapon was never recovered and he couldn't be placed at the scene of the crime. After a couple of months with no new evidence it went to cold cases, but it is still open." 

"Anything else that you've run across that would help us check the case out?" Dean questioned.

"Well, I don't know if it's connected or not, but one of his former girlfriends was killed a few weeks after he broke up with her. But it was ruled accidental. There were witnesses that placed Rogers somewhere else when it happened. It just seemed rather strange the only common thread between all three murders was Rogers.” 

"Can we speak to Stan Rogers?" 

"Oh, and could we get a copy of the reports that you have on the case?" 

"Sure, I'll have him brought to an interrogation room," the detective said getting up and leading them from the office. He showed them to the room and motioned them inside while the prisoner was brought up.

"You think it has anything to do with the first wife?" Sam mumbled in a quiet voice.

"If he did gank her she could be back as a vengeful spirit, trying to make him pay." 

They both became quiet when an officer came in leading a ruffled looking man in handcuffs. He sat down across from them and the cuffs were secured to a ring on the table by the officer who then stepped from the room.

"Who are you?" Rogers asked. He looked cautiously at them, not sure what to make of them.

"FBI, we wanted to ask you about your girlfriend's murder," Dean started sizing the guy up. He couldn't help it but his first impression was not a good one. He got a bad vibe about him and his instincts were not wrong.

"I didn't do it but no one believes me," he whined.

"Can you walk us through what happened?" Sam asked already sensing negative feelings about him.

"We had come home from dinner and were going to relax out by the pool. Jamie went up to change and I got a bottle of wine for us. She came down and then I went to change too. When I was coming down I heard her scream and heard crashes in the kitchen. I ran down to find her on the floor with blood covering her shirt. She had a knife in her chest and I rushed to her to pull it out and tried to stop the bleeding. I was too late she died," he explained in a pained voice that grew quieter at the end.

"You said something about a ghost killed her," Sam prompted.

"You won't believe me any more than the other cops did, so why bother?" he grunted in frustration.

"Try us. We may be a little more open minded about things," Dean offered.

"It was really strange. The room was really cold and I know the a/c wasn't on. I mean I could see my breath and I swore I saw someone moving over at the sliding glass door and like go through it, but they say I imagined it all. I was trying to lay blame on an intruder."

"How did your first wife die?" Dean asked bluntly watching for a reaction.

Rogers suddenly stiffened and glared madly at him, but looked away not able to meet his eyes. 

"Why do you want to know?" 

"We read the reports and it seemed you were the cop's prime suspect." 

"But there wasn't enough evidence to arrest me because I didn't kill her," he said, but his eyes told a different story that didn’t get by Sam. 

"Thank you, we'll get back with you," Sam said getting up before Dean said something else. He motioned for him to follow and headed out of the room.

"We should go see the body," Dean decided as they made their way to the front.

"Here are the reports that you wanted," the front desk sergeant offered holding out a folder.

"Could you also get us the reports on the death of Roger's first wife by chance?" Sam asked. 

"It'll take me a few minutes; I'll have to pull it from the archives." 

"We'll wait," Dean stated leaning against the counter and drumming his fingers on it. 

"He's lying, he had something to do with the killing his first wife," Sam whispered.

"I know. I felt his evil as soon as he sat down. If he didn‘t do it, he hired someone who did." 

"She must be seeking revenge on him by killing anyone he's with." 

"What do we do? He didn't kill the girlfriend but did his first wife."

"We need to communicate with her, see if we can get some evidence of who did it and turn it over to the cops. If she is the one doing this maybe that will appease her and there won‘t be any other deaths."

"I think Dom can do that. Maybe he can get her to talk to him."

"Text him we're on our way there. Might as well eat while we're there too." 

"I'll do it now," Sam said. 

spn

“Okay, so we’re pretty sure this Rogers guy killed his first wife or had something to do with it and now she’s haunting him wanting revenge,” Dean said once they were back in the car and away from prying ears. 

“Can you maybe try and contact her? See if she will talk to you?” Sam asked. 

“I can try, but it depends how far she has slipped. She might not be too talkative. Do you know where she’s buried?” Dominick asked.

“I looked it up online in the local papers, she’s buried in the local cemetery on the outskirts of town,” Sam said.

“It’s almost dark so we should go find the grave,” Dean told them cranking the Impala and pulling out of the diner parking lot. “Give me directions.”

Sam spouted out the directions that led them across town to a large cemetery. He drove through the gates and around to the back of the place before parking. 

“Okay geek boy, any idea where she’s buried?” Dean asked looking around at all the tombstones.

“I do, the family has plots on the northwest corner. She was buried with her family,” Sam spouted off ignoring his snide remark and a soft snicker from Dominick.

“Let’s spread out. Northwest is....” Dean checked the sunset and looked around before pointing off to the left. “That way.” 

They grabbed their gear and flashlights before moving off in the direction Dean pointed out. Each checked out tombstones searching for the wife’s grave. It took them twenty minutes of searching before Sam literally stumbled across the grave. He whistled for the others to join him as he looked at the tombstone and then the ones around it. They were all family members of the wife, Maggie Baker Rogers.

“Guess we should start digging,” Dean sighed dropping the bag by the grave.

“Should we be doing that if we want Dom to try and contact her?” Sam asked. “She might not like being dug up. Can you contact her without us digging?” 

“I might be able to,” Dominick shrugged. "I can give it a try. If she's willing."

“You may be right. Dom what do you need?” 

“Just stand to the side and remain quiet,” Dom instructed as he sat his bag down and pulled out several blue candles. He sat them on the ground at each end of the gravesite and lit them. Once that was done, Dom took a seat cross legged on the grave and prepared himself to try to contact Maggie Rogers. 

Dominick got comfortable and began to take slow even breaths as he cleared his mind going into a trance like state. He pulled his essence from his body and let it waver for a moment before crossing over to the realm in between the living and the dead. Low hanging mist circled his feet and the dim light cast the place in shadows. There was no color to the realm, only shades of grey to palest white. He looked around and listened for a moment before speaking.

“Maggie Rogers are you here?” he spoke softly knowing it was not good to be too loud here. He could sense the unnatural feel on his form since he couldn’t really feel anything here. “Maggie Rogers I need to talk to you,” he tried again. 

The mist began to move and swirl slowly as a ghostly form started to take shape nearby. It grew and took the shape of a female form, transparent at first, until it began to fill in more until Maggie Rogers looked at Dominick with angry eyes. 

“What do you want?” she asked in a wavering voice like she couldn’t quite control it. “Who are you?”

He studied the spirit and could see the anger in her wavering face. When spirits were like this they were unpredictable and he had to be careful. Even in this form she could attack him and possibility do harm. He remained calm and prepared himself to communicate with her.  
============================================  
A/N: With Dom’s abilities, he will be able to speak to the spirit and hopefully convince her to help them. Thank you for reading and I do like comments. NC


	14. Chapter 14

“I wanted to talk to you about how you died. Did your husband have anything to do with it?” 

“Yes, the bastard wouldn’t ask for a divorce because he didn’t want to lose my money,” she sneered. “I was going to file for divorce myself when I found out he had a mistress.”

“Can you tell me how he did it?” 

“He made it look like a break in. He was supposed to be out of town for a few days. I was going to my attorney the next day to have him start filing divorce papers. It was almost midnight and I was getting ready to go up to bed. I was in the kitchen when I heard something in the other room. I thought it might be the dog knocking something over and went to check but he was in his bed. I tried to call the cops, but the phone was dead, so I tried to get to my cell in the kitchen. That bastard grabbed me and threw me across the room into the table." The spirit stopped for a moment as he rage made her flicker in and out before she could regain control again. She was radiating extreme power as her anger grew. "I tried to get a knife for a weapon but he struck me knocking me to the floor. He laughed at me saying I was pathetic and didn’t deserve him. He wasn’t going to let me divorce him since my attorney advised me to have him sign a prenuptial agreement before we were married. If we divorced he wouldn‘t get a penny of my money. He berated me before pulling a gun and shot me. He made it look like a break in taking things and messing the place up,” she replied looking at Dominick, her eyes filled with hatred. “He doesn’t deserve to be happy; he needs to pay for what he did. He not only killed me, but my unborn child. I was so excited and happy....” 

“Was he the father?”

“Yes, I found out too late all he wanted was my money. But I wanted my baby, and he took that from me.” 

“You killed an innocent woman to get your revenge.”

“No, she was a part of it, his mistress. She‘s the reason he killed me. She urged him to do it, to get rid of me so they could have my money,” she spat in anger. “They both needed to be punished for what was done to me.” 

“We can do that for you but you need to let us put you to rest. No one else needs to die,” Dominick told her. 

“No!” she screeched racing at him getting ready to attack.

Dominick raised his hand and spoke in his native language causing her to stop suddenly, unable to move. She screamed louder as she fought to escape, but couldn’t. He remained calm and let her vent her anger until she calmed slightly.

“We only want to help. Can you tell us what he did with the gun? The cops couldn’t find any evidence against him and never found the murder weapon. We can make him pay for your death and the death of your child if you will help us.”

“He hid it in a hollow stump behind our house in the woods. Now let me go.”

“Will you show us? Don’t you want to be at peace? Leave this world and join your family? I know they are waiting on you.”

The spirit stopped her struggling and looked at him with the mention of her family. Her scowl softened before casting her gaze back on him with a look of longing and despair. She looked down at her clutched hands and let them relax. “I will do it.” 

“Good, I must leave now. We will meet you at your old house.” 

“Alright, but if you don’t make him pay, I will,” she stated before vanishing into the mist. 

Dean and Sam had been watching Dominick for any sign of distress as he slumped slightly with his head down. They remained quiet waiting on his return. Sam saw it first as his hand began to move and Dominick started drawing in longer and stronger breaths before straightening up and opening his eyes to look at them.

“She is going to show us where Rogers hid the gun that killed her. His girlfriend seems to have been his mistress when he was married to Maggie. She wanted Rogers to get rid of his wife,” he said blowing out the candles and getting up. “We need to go to where they lived. She is going to meet us there and show us the location.”

“Well, guess we won’t be digging her up,” Dean said happily. He wasn't looking forward to the backbreaking task and was glad this grave could be left undisturbed. 

“I’ll check the report to see where they lived when we get back to the car,” Sam told them as they walked toward the Impala.

It took them thirty minutes to find the house. Dean parked along the road and they got out making their way around the side of it. Dominick silently called out to Maggie hoping she would be true to her word and show them. It wasn’t but a few minutes before a shimmering shape stepped from between the trees.

“Where is it Maggie?” Dominick asked.

Maggie turned and walked into the forest to be followed by the three hunters. They walked about a thousand yards into the woods before stopping at a rotten stump that she was pointing at.

“It’s in there. No one would ever look out here and he knew it,” her voice wavered as she watched them.

Dean looked around and found a branch to use as he stepped to the stump. He knelt down to shine his light into rotten hole and began to dig around until he felt something with the stick. He reached in and pulled out an object that was wrapped in a thick black plastic bag. He opened it to find a gun wrapped in a rag.

“I think we have our murder weapon,” Dean said holding up the bag.

“What now?” Dominick asked.

“We send it to the police with a note,” Sam said. “We can’t take it to the cops ourselves and tell them a ghost showed us where it was. They can check for finger prints and match the bullet to the one taken from Maggie and tie them to the husband. That should put him away for a long time for killing not only his wife but his unborn child.” 

“Thank you....” Maggie said. A sense of peace swept through her and the vengeful spirit changed to look like the person before she died.

“Go in peace Maggie, Rogers will get what he deserves,” Dominick told her speaking some ancient words that allowed her to move on and be with her family. Her body faded to a pale yellowish/white light sphere and moved into the heavens as it faded away.

“Well, let’s get this to the locals and head back to the house,” Dean suggested as he watched Maggie’s light began to fade until she was gone. 

“I’m all for that,” Sam agreed glad that Maggie and her unborn child could have justice now.

“That went better than expected and we didn’t have to dig up a grave. Sorry you didn‘t get to use your powers Sam,” Dominick commented. “We will work on another ability tomorrow, so be sure and rest once we get back to the house.”

“It‘s fine, I‘m sure there will be plenty of other hunts,” Sam replied curious to know what he was thinking of doing next. He had hoped to test his powers on this hunt, but was okay with it. 

spn

"So what are we going to do today?" Sam asked slightly anxious to begin.

"Do you know about astral projection?" Dominick inquired once he settled in a chair beside Sam on the back deck.

"It was done to me one time a long time ago by a witch."

"Good, you have a general sense of it then. I'm going to take you with me and then talk you through doing it yourself," Dom said. "Try to relax, it won't hurt," Dominick told him as he gripped his arm tightly and closed his eyes. 

Sam felt a dizzy, spinning sensation when suddenly he was pulled from his body and taken along with Dominick. They drifted above their bodies, looking down on them for a moment before Dominick moved them over the house making Sam suck in a sudden breath in surprise. He looked down and saw Dean looking into the Impala's engine bay fiddling with something. 

"He can't see or hear us," Dominick said to ease Sam's concern. "As you get stronger you can materialize enough to be seen and can talk to the person. For now we will stay invisible."

"So we can't touch or alter anything in this state," Sam said.

"That is true, you can observe only," he replied. "Do you see what it feels like? How light you are and how easy it is to move around. Doing this is fairly simple once you understand the concept of separating yourself from your body."

"Yes, it's sort of weird feeling," Sam replied. "You have to allow yourself to leave your body. You can't fight it, but just let it happen."

"Correct, now let's go back," Dominick told him snapping his fingers to put them back on the deck. He let their spirits settle back into their bodies allowing them to reconnect. 

"Wow," Sam said wiping his face and staring wide eyed at Dominick. "That was a trip."

"Rest for a few minutes before you try it yourself. Just let yourself be free. Picture it in your mind releasing your spirit from its restraint." 

Sam closed his eyes and drew in some slow, calming breaths letting his spirit un-attach from his body. He rose up and looked at his body that sat lifeless in the chair. He could barely see his chest rising and falling and thought it was odd looking. He looked at Dominick who was studying him but not looking at him. 

"I can sense you nearby; when you get this down we will work on manifestation of your spirit so others can see you,” Dominick said in Sam's head.

“Is it hard?” 

“No, you're a fast learner and you’re one step closer to doing it yourself.” 

“I’m going to try and move.”

“Be my guest, don’t wander too far, don’t want you getting lost,” he chuckled. “I will let you play on your own for a few minutes but not too long. People can get separated from their bodies and that is a difficult thing to correct.” 

Sam rose up slowly feeling light as a feather. He guessed this was how a spirit felt and smiled as he moved around the house to where Dean was still elbow deep in the engine bay. He studied him for a moment before his cell ran and Dean reached into his jacket to get it. 

“Hello....Benny what’s wrong?...Where are you?...How bad?...It’ll take me at least a half a day to get there, can you hold on?...I’ll be on my way hang on...” 

Sam listened to the one sided conversation and wondered who Benny was, and what had happened. He watched Dean quickly put away his tools and close the hood of the Impala before heading inside. Sam hurried back around the house and dropped harder than he meant to into his body. He grunted and tried to stop the world from spinning as Dean stepped out onto the deck.

“Hey, I’ve got to run an errand, shouldn’t be but a couple of days maybe three or four at the most,” Dean told them as he turned to leave.

“Where you going?” Sam asked trying to stand but didn’t succeed the first time. “What type of errand?”

“Nothing you need to be concerned about. If I’m longer I’ll call,” Dean said looking at Sam for a moment when he saw the frown on his face like he knew something. 

“I can go...” Sam started.

“Naw, I’m good. You stay here and do your thing,” he insisted heading inside to get his bag.

“You know something?” Dominick asked with interest when he studied Sam's worried face.

“He got a phone call,” Sam mumbled as he stared after Dean wondering where he was going. Whoever he was talking to sounded like they were in some type of trouble. He didn’t understand why he wouldn’t let him come too. What was he hiding from him? He went inside to see Dean coming from the bedroom with his duffle and heading outside with a wave. Sam could tell he was in a hurry and seemed worried about something or someone. He didn't like secrets between them, thought he was keeping a big one right now but it wouldn't harm anyone not knowing. Dean's secret seemed to involve others and there could be possible danger to him. He had thought they were getting some of what they had before back, but maybe he was wrong. He couldn't get it out of his head that Dean was heading for trouble.  
===============================================  
A/N: Dean takes off to help a friend and Sam is left with questions and concerns. What will Sam do? Thank you for reading and I do love comments. NC


	15. Chapter 15

The interstate wasn’t crowded as Dean sped down it toward Pine Harbor, Georgia. He felt bad not telling Sam the truth but he didn’t think he would understand about Benny. They were hunters and vampires were the monsters they killed. He didn’t think Sam would take kindly to him being friends with one, even thought the only reason he got out of Purgatory alive was because of him. Benny had been a rare one since he didn’t attack people for blood; he bought in on the black market or nicked it from blood banks, but didn’t kill humans. He felt he owed him. He would not have found the portal out without his help and he actually became a friend to him. He didn’t sound good when Dean talked to him and hoped he could get to him in time. With that thought, he pressed harder on the gas pedal to send the Impala at a faster speed toward Pine Harbor. 

With only stopping for gas and restroom break and a heavy foot, Dean pulled into Pine Harbor in record time. He found the shipyard and the location Benny gave him. He stepped carefully into the dimly lit building looking around. 

“Benny? You in here?” he called.

“Chief, here,” a weak voice called back.

Dean followed the voice and found Benny leaning against a walk, badly injured.

“Man! They did a number on you,” Dean noted as he looked at his injuries and the blood loss.

“You could say that. My truck’s out front, there’s blood in the back.” 

“I’ll be right back,” he told him hurrying back out to find the vehicle. Dean found the cooler in the back of the camper on the truck and took it back to Benny. “Here you go.”

“Thanks Chief,” he said opening the cooler and pulling out a bag of blood. 

Dean stepped back letting him have a little privacy as he drank the blood so he could heal himself. He pulled another bag out and emptied it allowing the fresh blood to help regenerate his body and heal his wounds.

“Now that’s much better,” Benny said swatting the dirt from his clothes and replacing his cap. 

“So you’re good now?” 

“Yeah, but looks like I’m going to have to visit the Old Man in order to end this. One got away, and he‘ll go straight back to him and let him know I‘m alive. The Old Man won't stop until I'm dead again.” 

“Something you wanna tell me?” Dean asked as they walked out of the damp, rundown building.

“The Old Man, as we call him, though he's younger than I am, was the one who turned me all those years ago. He didn't just become the leader, he made himself king of our nest. He lives off the coast on Prentiss Island and runs his pirating scheme from there. There was one who watched the docks for the yachts, luxury ships that set out and they would contact us on the ships telling us the routes they were sailing. We would board the boats and kill the owners, of course draining them of their blood and steal their ships. We would leave wreckage, oil spill and a life preserver in the open sea and everyone thought the ships went down. Fifty-one years ago I was to kill a Greek heiress named Andrea and take her boat...When I laid eyes on her, oh Chief, it was love at first sight...” he sighed remembering the first time he saw the beautiful face of Andrea. “We ran away together. She knew what I was but didn’t care. We were in love. We sailed the Mediterranean and up and down the coast, not a care in the world. Then the Old Man found us about a year later. He took my leaving as a betrayal to him and killed me and Andrea. That’s how I ended up in Purgatory fifty years ago. I bided my time knowing somehow I was getting out of there.”

“I take it he’s not going to like you coming back.” 

“That he will not. He won’t rest until I’m dead again.” 

“So what are you going to do?” 

“I guess I need to give Father a visit.”

“Want some company?”

“You sure about this? Don’t you have a brother to find?”

“Already done that.” 

“And what happened?”

“Long story short, he hit a dog, tried to be normal, decided to return to hunting with me,” Dean shrugged.

“He didn’t look for you?”

“Nope.”

“And you were okay with that?”

“Don’t want to talk about it.” he stated firmly not opening that can of worms again.

“Fine with me Chief. Guess we need to find a boat.” 

“Lead the way,” Dean said pulling his cell from his jacket pocket and hitting decline to Sam’s call. 

Benny looked over at him, but didn’t say anything, figuring Dean was allowed his privacy. He wasn’t about to get between him and his brother. He would tread lightly with Dean going forward.

spn

The boat glided across the water toward the island that was dotted with random lights. Dean stood at the helm beside Benny who was driving the boat. They made their way to the wayward side of the island and docked. They got off the boat armed and ready for battle. Since this had been Benny’s home for a long time, he knew the blind spots for the house and where guards would be. They made their way toward it taking down vampires along the way. Benny led them in through the basement and made their way up the stairs. 

Dean motioned he was going upstairs as Benny continued to search the first floor. He eased up the steps listening and watching for any guards. He carefully looked both ways before hugging the wall and stepping down the hall. His cell began to buzz and he quickly answered it.

“He’lo.” he whispered madly.

“Dean?” Sam asked. “Why are you whispering?” 

“I don’t wanna be heard,” he said in annoyance. 

“What are you doing?” Sam asked.

“Taking care of some business, keep talking,” he said quickly pressing speaker so Sam’s raised voice echoed from it as he sat it in a bowl and stepped into a bedroom partly closing the door. 

The vampire walked down the hall trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. He stopped at the table and started to pick up the cell when Dean stepped behind him and swung the club he had brought from Purgatory, severing the neck and removing the head. 

“Dean! Dean!” Sam yelled from the cell. "What's going on? Are you in trouble?"

“Sorry Sammy gotta go,” Dean told him hanging up the cell and pocketing it. He kicked the head into the empty bedroom and pulled the body in there to hide it. He looked out before going back into the hall to be confronted by two other vampires. “Bring it,” Dean growled as his Purgatory self took over and he met them head on taking down both of them as he danced around them with no trouble at all. 

spn

Sam slammed his cell down on the counter of the bar in the kitchen swearing under his breath. He grabbed his laptop to try and trace Dean’s cell to see where he was so he could go help.

“What’s wrong?” Dominick asked hearing the noises.

“Dean said he was taking care of business, but it sounded like he was in trouble,” Sam growled. “I’m trying to find him so I can go back him up.”

“What makes you think he doesn’t have backup?” 

“Damnit! He must have turned off his cell. Can you take me to him?” 

“You want to do astral projection to his location?” 

“Yes, I need to see if he’s in trouble and where he’s at.” 

“If you like,” Dominick shrugged sitting down at the table with him. “You’ll have to relax or I can’t take you,” he told him seeing how agitated he was.

Sam pulled in some fast breaths as he tried to calm his racing heart. His hands were trembling and he clenched them in front of him hoping to stave off the shakes. 

“Easy breaths Sam. Why don’t I find him first and see what’s going on?” Dominick suggested seeing Sam was having difficulty with calming down.

“Fine, but I still want to go.” 

"I can come back for you once I've found him."

Dominick closed his eyes and let his mind relax as he focused on Dean, trying to find him. He left his body and was hurled through space to a huge house sitting on an island. He entered into the building and stopped on the second floor in time to see Dean take out two vampires. It was effortless and like watching a dance between them. He studied the weapon Dean was wielding wondering where it came from. Dominick followed Dean on down the hall where he was confronted by three this time. He knew he couldn’t help him and wondered if he even needed it. He was disturbed by another force and realized Sam had followed him and was floating beside him. Sam thought Dominick was taking too long to come back and wasn't sure how he did it, but he latched onto his trail and followed him to this house.

“Very good grasshopper,” Dominick smirked as Sam watched in horror as Dean defended himself. 

He couldn’t believe how vicious and deadly Dean seemed. His eyes glistened with a wild, uncanny look as he was thrown back against the wall only to barrel from it and into two of the vampires knocking them sideways. He swirled and took the heads off one at a time and paused his weapon held ready to continue the battle. Sam had never seen this side of Dean and it frightened him. He couldn't get him to talk much about Purgatory only that if you didn't fight you died. 

“Where is he?” Sam asked frantically.

“Somewhere on the coast,” Dominick told him. “You could never get to him in time. But I don’t think he needs your help.” 

spn

“Well, well, I didn’t believe it when I was told that you were alive, but here you are,” the Old Man said in his sing song voice. He was young when he had been turned and remained that way. “How is that Benny?”

“Found a loop hole,” Benny said gripping his weapon tightly in his hand. With a strong swing Benny removed the head of the Old Man’s right hand man that was sneaking up on him, watching as it bounced across the floor to land against the desk. 

“Bravo, seems like you learned some new skills while you’ve been gone,” the Old Man said clapping his hands slowly as he studied Benny.

“I learned a lot of things where I went.” 

“Benny?” a female voice said from behind him.

“Andrea?” Benny said in surprise. “I thought you were dead.”

“I was going to kill her, just like you, but I thought it would be more fitting to turn her and make her mine. She now my second in command,” he gloated. 

Benny shook his head no, trying not to believe what he had been told. She wouldn't do that, not his Andrea, but the evidence was standing in front of him. He saw the way she looked at her creator and if he had a heart, it would have broken.

“So what now? You think you have the nerve to kill me, your creator?” he asked boldly. “So where did you go when I had you beheaded?”

“Oh, you’ll see first hand Old Man,” Benny sneered as he dove over the desk and took his head off with one huge swing.

“This is good Benny, now we can be together again,” Andrea said excitedly. “This can be our empire now and we can rule it together. I never forgot you my love.” 

Benny stepped back from her as Dean came up behind them. She never noticed him as he listened to them talk. Dominick and Sam had followed Dean downstairs and were watching everything play out. So now he knew who Benny was, a vampire, but he had no idea why Dean would be friends with him.

“No we can’t, that’s not me anymore.” Benny replied sadly. “I don’t kill humans like in the old days. I have a different aspect on life now.” 

“No! You can’t mean that! You loved me! I loved you! How could you....” she screamed pulling a knife but before she could use it Dean took her head off. 

“You okay bro?” Dean asked Benny as he stood looking down at Andrea’s body. He knew the feelings Benny had for her and knew this was hard on him.

“Yeah, I’m good Chief. It would never have worked out, she wasn't the same person. What the Old Man did changed her in more ways than just becoming a vampire." 

"What should we do with all the dead bodies laying around? You think anyone's going to come nosing around?" 

"There's only one thing we can do," Benny replied. He went to the kitchen and pulled the two stoves from the wall breaking the gas lines to allow gas to leak steadily into the room. He went back into the office and turned on the gas for the fireplace allowing it start filling the room. 

Dean saw what he was doing and went upstairs to turn on the gas in the fireplaces in two of the bedrooms. When he came back down, Benny was standing in the entryway waiting on him. He had left a candle burning in the office so when enough gas built up there would be an explosion and fire.

"Let’s get out of here,” he said. 

“I’m with you on that,” Dean agreed clapping him on the back as they turned to leave. 

“Shall we go back now that you see Dean's okay? I don't think we want to be here when the place explodes,” Dominick asked Sam as he watched Dean walk away. 

Sam just stood there watching his brother wondering why Dean would keep this from him. Who was this vampire to him? He seemed awful chummy with him so he had to have known him for a while to be that close. The only thing that made sense was Benny came back from Purgatory with Dean, but he didn’t understand how or why. 

“Sam? Shall we?” he questioned again.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Sam said. He had more questions than answers and wondered if he should question Dean about it when he got back. He also wondered if he would tell him the truth. He thought they might have gotten past keeping secrets from each other by now, but guessed not. Sam blinked several times as his spirit settled back into his body, rejoining with it. He wiped a hand down his face before resting it in his hand as he mulled over this new information.

spn

Dean and Benny returned the boat they had used to its place at the dock and got out. They stood on the dock looking back out across the water at the house, as the first explosion sent debris and wreckage out into the night. They watched as the flames began to consume the house, eating hungrily away at its frame. 

"Where are you going now?" Dean asked.

"I think I'll head home, see if I've got any relatives left in Louisiana. I always did like the bayou,” Benny replied.

“Sounds like a plan. Think there’s any bars still open where we can grab a drink?” 

“I might know of one or two. Don’t ya wanna get back to your brother?”

“He’s fine and doing his own thing. Who he's with will keep him safe. I think we both deserve a drink and then I’m finding a motel to get some sleep.” 

“Alright Chief, let’s go have a few beers.” 

“Lead the way.” Dean said waving his hand for Benny to go first. They walked to where their vehicles were parked and got in. Benny led them away from the dock and over to a different section of town that boasted a number of bars. 

He wasn't concerned about Sam since he knew Dom would take care of him. He didn't want to admit it but it felt good to be the hunter again and take out the monsters. This gave him a challenge since he was alone with no backup, but it didn’t scare him in the least. His blood ran hot racing through his veins and he needed a few drinks to let his adrenaline high wear off if he was going to getting any rest.  
================================================================  
A/N: Dean hasn’t lost that killer instinct from being in Purgatory and Sam is at a loss on how to deal with this side of Dean that he hadn’t seen before. Thank you for reading and comments would make my day. NC


	16. Chapter 16

After returning to his body from astral projection, Sam went for a long walk to be alone and think. He didn't want to talk to Dom about what they had seen. He didn't think he would understand his feelings at the moment. When Dean had come back from Purgatory he wouldn’t talk about what happened suffice to say it was a kill or be killed situation. Sam could tell it was a touchy subject for him and never pressed him about it. When he came back from his walk, Dominick had gone to bed and he followed suit. 

The following morning Dominick checked to see if Sam wanted to continue training or not and Sam decided to continue to keep his mind off his brother. He worked on freeing himself from his body and returning and moving around to different places until he was comfortable with it. Once he had done this a couple of times, Sam became more confident and went farther each time. He continued to work on this for the rest of the day, honing his skills to be more accurate and to be able to find a certain person. 

Once Dominick saw Sam was comfortable with astral projection, he showed and explained how he could make himself corporal so others could see and hear him. That took a little longer for him to grasp that part of it, but by the third day he had it most of the time. Sometimes it worked and sometimes he just faded in and out. Dominick made him stop when he saw he was getting frustrated and made him relax and meditate to get rid of some of the tension he could feel inside of him.

When Dominick saw he was getting tired, he made him stop and rest for an hour and eat something. He could tell Sam was still bothered about Dean and hinted if he wanted to talk he was here, but Sam didn't want to share. He was impressed at how quickly Sam was learning new abilities and just wondered what else he was capable of. If he worked on it, Dominick thought he could be as powerful as he was or maybe even more. He hoped whatever was going on between the brothers could be worked out before they got word of the creature he was hunting.

Sam was pacing the floors as he looked at the clock to see what time it was. He had gotten a text from Dean that he was on his way back. He had been gone four days now and had only spoken to him briefly by cell once. Dean was curt and short when he called like he didn't want to stay on the line too long. He was still conflicted about asking Dean about this Benny, the vampire, or not. If he asked he would also have to tell Dean how he knew about him and Sam was sure he wasn't going to like being spied on. 

"Sam, you're going to wear a hole in the floor. He will be here soon," Dominick offered hoping to ease his mind.

"I'll feel better when I see him face to face," Sam replied. “You think I should tell him about what we did?”

“That is up to you. I am good either way, but I think you have questions you’d like answered. Sam, you know your brother better than me and know how he would take you telling him.”

He looked toward the front door as a familiar sounding engine pulled up to the house and stopped. "Finally," he whispered. He got up and waited for Dean to come in.

spn

Dean pulled the Impala to the front of the house and stopped, shutting the engine off. He didn’t get out, but sat there mulling over the past few days. He knew Benny was being honest with him about not hurting people and it seemed he really wanted nothing more than to be left alone to live his life, but the past kept interfering with that. He hoped he did find some relatives and maybe a little peace. Dean looked up when the front door opened and an anxious Sam stepped onto the porch to see what was keeping Dean. With a sigh, he pulled himself from the car and grabbed his bag before strolling toward his brother.

“Glad you’re back,” Sam said trying to hide his anxiousness and knowledge of what he had seen. “What happened? You sounded like you were in trouble when I called.”

“It wasn‘t anything,” Dean answered as he looked closer at Sam and his body language. “Did something happen while I was gone?” 

“No! What would....I just trained,” Sam rushed quickly looking away so he wouldn’t see the guilt in his eyes.

“Right,” Dean said not convinced at all with his words.

“Hello Dean,” Dominick greeted him as he came into the living room. “Have you had dinner? I can heat you some leftovers up.”

“Naw, I grabbed something on the road...But thanks anyway,” he told him. Dean studied Dominick but didn’t see anything wrong with him. He looked back at his brother who was fidgeting and acted like he wanted to say something.

“Want a beer?” Sam asked moving toward the kitchen to get away from Dean’s steady gaze.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“Dom? Beer?”

“That’s okay, I’m going to check my emails and make a few phone calls,” he replied getting up to leave so the brothers could be alone. He wasn’t sure if Sam would say anything to Dean or not, but he didn’t want to get in the middle of the confrontation, if it happened. This should be between the brothers and he knew he wasn't needed.

Sam came back with two beers and handed one to Dean.

“Wanna go out on the deck?” he asked thinking that might be more private than inside and Dean might feel more comfortable outside.

“Why not,” Dean shrugged following him out the door to the deck where they both sat down in lounge chairs. He sipped his beer trying to stop his mind from driving. It had been a long haul back and he was tired.

Sam sipped his beer trying to wet his dry mouth and throat so he could speak. 

“What happened Dean? When I called you sounded like you were in a fight or something,” Sam asked trying to give him an opening to talk.

“Took care of it,” he replied looking up at the sky as the stars began to come out in the night sky. "Remember when we'd camp out at Bobby's and would star gaze into the night?" he asked out of the blue. "You never lasted very long before you were asleep."

Sam looked at him in surprise, wondering where that memory came from. “Did you go on a hunt without any backup? You know how dangerous that can be, what happened,” he asked not being deterred from finding out what happened.

“It’s done Sam, no need to worry ‘bout it now.”

“You could have been hurt or killed and I didn’t have a clue where you were,” Sam exclaimed his voice getting louder. “Why didn’t you let me come with you?” 

“It was something I had to do alone. I’m back, so let’s drop it,” Dean growled, not liking Sam’s tone of voice. 

“No Dean, no more secrets, remember? What’s going on with you? What are you not telling me?”

“Let it go Sammy,” Dean growled slowly as he started to get up and found his body wouldn't obey him. An invisible force was holding him in place and the more he tried to move the harder it pressed him down. He looked to his brother and saw a determined, serious, stern look on his face. "This is not a good idea bro," he said in a slow, threatening voice as he tried to move again.

“Who’s Benny, Dean?” Sam questioned crossing his arms and jutting out his jaw with stubbornness not letting him leave.

Dean snapped his head up and looked at his brother with a deep frown and anger on his face. He knew he had never mentioned him before and wondered how Sam knew the name. He was sure he hadn't slipped and mentioned him to his brother.

Sam swallowed hard as his eyes widened from the look Dean was giving him. He had never seen an expression like that on him before and it scared him, but didn’t stop him from continuing. He wanted to know the truth and hoped it might ease some of the tension between them.

“Who is he Dean?” he asked again not sure if Dean was going to tell him or not.

Dean sat back in his chair and took a long swallow of his beer staring off into the woods behind the house. He could feel the pressure holding him lessen until it was gone and knew Sam let him go. His mind was whirling as he contemplated his response. After returning from Purgatory, he had not opened up any about his experience because it was painful and only reminded him of Castiel and knowing he was still there. Sam had tried to get him to talk about it, but it was too raw, too fresh in his mind for him to do that.

“He’s the reason I’m sitting here,” he said, his voice quiet and unnerving, almost haunting.

“Talk to me Dean, please,” Sam encouraged leaning forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees.  
“I know you’ve not really said anything about what happened, but I want to know. I really do bro.”

Dean pursed his lips, but didn’t look at Sam as he mulled over this thoughts for a moment trying to decide whether to talk or not. 

“When I woke up in that place....I didn’t even know where I was at first. Cas told me. Of all the places I thought I’d end up...Never dreamed it would be there,” Dean huffed a sarcastic laugh.

Sam waited patiently for him to continue. He knew better than to push any more than he had, Dean would take his own time telling him if he was going to. He listened intently to every word his brother said not daring to speak for fear he would stop.

“Cas disappeared on me. He told me later it was to protect me. Seems he was a beacon for every monster out there, especially the Leviathan, and didn’t want to draw them to me. I was pissed at him for leaving me,” Dean recounted. “I kept on the move; you had to if you wanted to live. It was kill or be killed in that place, but you know what...There was something oddly pure about it...It felt liked I belonged there.” He paused as if remembering something before going on. “I was sure I was going to die there, but I was going down fighting until my last breath. It didn’t take long for the monsters to start showing up and I fought for my life. The only thing that kept me going was wanting to get back to you," he said looking at Sam as he arched an eyebrow. 

Sam looked down at the deck as the guilt ate at him for not looking for Dean. Even if he couldn't have done anything, he should have at least tried. He still didn't say anything, not feeling he should. He would carry that guilt with him even if Dean could forgive him.

"I don’t know how long I had been there before I was attacked by three vampires. I held my own until the last one and he had me on the ground going for the jugular. Benny showed up and saved my ass. Turns out he had heard there was a way out of that place, but you had to be human to use it. So we made a deal, he helped me look for Cas and I’d take him with me when we found the portal out. He fought by my side, became my friend, was like a brother to me...”

This made Sam sit up and frown when he said that. He felt bad for not looking for Dean and Castiel and also a bit jealous, like he had been replaced while Dean was gone. He was sure this was why Dean had gone to help Benny and didn't tell him. He focused back on Dean as he continued to talk.

“It took a long time to find Cas, but we finally did. So the three of us started looking for the portal. It took us just as long to find the portal as it did Cas, but we finally did. Benny knew a spell that let me absorb his soul into my body so he could come back with me...” Dean stopped and looked away as what happened to Castiel came back. He could see his face as he pulled away and went to face the Leviathan before he was sucked through the portal.

“Dean, what happened?” Sam asked when he didn’t continue. He could feel the guilt Dean carried in him for Castiel still being stranded in Purgatory. If the portal was only for humans then he didn’t think Castiel could cross over, so that meant he couldn’t come back. A deep sadness settled over him with this knowledge.

“He wouldn’t come...” Dean whispered. “He...He pushed me toward the portal and stopped the Leviathan that came to attack us. I was sucked into the vortex before I could stop him. I took Benny to where his body was buried and released him and we parted ways.” 

“But he’s a vampire Dean.”

“He doesn’t hurt humans, he gets blood from blood banks or on the black market,” Dean said finishing his beer. “How did you know about him anyway?” 

Sam had the decency to look away as his face reddened. He couldn’t keep the guilt off his face.

“What did you do?” Dean asked sternly. 

“I was just seeing if I could do it and after that call I had to know...”

“Know what Sam?”

“That you were okay. I used astral projection and heard your call from Benny and we went to find you...”

“You were spying on me?” Dean accused.

“It wasn’t like that, honest. I thought you were in trouble and you've been acting all weird since you came back. I was worried about you,” Sam tried to explain as Dean glared at him. “I’m sorry...”

They both looked toward the door when Dominick stepped from the house to look from one brother to the other. He waited a moment feeling the tension between the brothers before speaking.

“I may have a lead on the creature,” he stated.

Dean and Sam looked at the each other knowing their conversation would have to wait. They would put aside their differences for the case that was more important.

“You two good?” Dominick asked. "If there's a problem I can continue on my own."

“No, it's fine, what have you got?” Dean asked getting up to face him. He showed no emotions on his face and what him and Sam had been talking about would wait for another day. He wasn't going to let it drop; he wanted Sam to know it wasn't okay for him to spy on him.   
=============================================================  
A/N: Sam knows about Benny now and Dean isn't happy with Sam spying on him. Now that they have lead on the creature and hopefully find it. Comments make my day. NC


	17. Chapter 17

The tires of the Impala were eating up the road as she headed to a town in Missouri. One of Dominick's cousins had a hit on several murders with the victim's hearts missing. Sam was reading through the police reports that had been hacked from their data base and sent to Dominick before they left. 

“It’s going to be late when we get there, might as well get a room and get a good night’s sleep before hitting the pavement in the morning,” Dean suggested, breaking the silence in the car. 

“Fine with me,” Dominick answered from the back. "Not much we can do after hours anyway."

Dean glanced over at Sam when he didn’t answer and finally asked, “Sam? That okay with you?”

“What?” Sam asked snapping back to the present. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Dean or Dominick. His mind was still on his confrontation with Dean when he got back from his errand. He knew their talk wasn't finished and that Dean wasn't happy about him going to find him and using his powers on him. Sam knew Dean thought it was spying and invading his privacy, but he had been worried. 

“I said we’d get a room for the night and start in the morning,” Dean repeated himself.

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled looking back out the side window. 

“What is it Sam?” Dominick asked in his mind. “Where did you go?”

“No where, just lost in thought.”

“You know I can tell when you lie.”

“Crap,” Sam mumbled in his mind. 

“Was it about Dean and your talk?” 

“Does it show? He wasn’t happy, but at least he talked to me a little. I know a little of what he went through to get back to me. He wasn't very enthused when I wouldn't let him leave by using my powers and sort of made him talk.” 

“And you feel guilty about not being able to rescue him from Purgatory?”

“I-I didn’t look for him. I thought he was dead. I was lost and confused and scared. There was no one left for me and, well, I quit hunting and ran.”

“And Dean didn’t take kindly to you not trying to look for him?”

“No, I think, he thinks I betrayed him by not looking. I tried to explain things to him, to make him understand what I was going through then. I think he does now, but it’ll take some time for him to put that behind him and forgive me. I just hope I can forgive myself.”

“Dean’s talking to you again; you better answer him. Say alright.”

“Alright,” Sam said quickly out loud thinking his voice seemed too loud and urgent. He wasn’t sure what he just said alright to and hoped it wasn’t going to come back to bite him in the ass.

Dean looked at him with a frown knowing something was off with Sam right now and he wasn’t sure what. He thought some of it might be because of their conversation earlier that wasn’t finished or maybe it had to do with him learning these new abilities and how to deal with them.

“You want to get us a room?” Dean asked as he pulled up to the motel office sensing Sam had no idea what he had asked him. 

“Yeah, I’ll see if they got two rooms with adjoining doors again.”

“I’ll go with you and pay for my room,” Dominick commented waiting for Dean to stop so he could get out.

Sam and Dominick went into the office and registered getting two rooms with connecting doors. They came back out and Sam motioned Dean to move the car around to the back and took a parking space in front of one of the rooms. He got out and opened the trunk so they could get their duffels. Dean stepped through the door Sam had opened and checked it out before letting his brother enter. 

Dominick had gone into his room and opened the door on his side, knocking on the other door that Dean opened. He stepped into their room with a folder and his laptop.

“So here are the files on the last victims It killed. It hit two towns a hundred miles apart in less than a month and then stopped. This is the first victims It’s taken in two months so It’s hungry,” Dominick told them. “If you want to start going over them see if we can find a common link, I’ll see about getting the autopsy reports on the latest victims. It will be wanting to feed again and soon.”

“Alright,” Sam said sitting at the table and handing Dean a folder while he took the other. He opened it and shuffled the papers together before he started reading them.

Dean slumped back in his chair and opened his folder, first looking at the photos of the victims and lining them up on the table. He studied each one carefully seeing they were all young, healthy, people, male and female who died way too young. He pinched his lips together into a tight line as he let his eyes roam over the shots. Dean pushed them together into a single pile before looking at the autopsy reports. He did a quick skim of them and then went back to read the contents again slower this time. One small item caught his eye and he checked all the other ones.

“Hey Sammy, tell me the blood types of your victims,” Dean said.

“Ummmm...Sure...” Sam said flipping back through the papers. “AB negative, AB negative, they’re all have the same blood type.” 

“Same here.”

“So the creature has a preference to a blood type?” 

“But how will that help? We can’t go around asking people their blood type. They’d think we were nuts or weirdoes.” 

“There’s got to be something else. Do the police reports say where they thought the victims were abducted from? And where the bodies were found?” 

“It looks like they were out at nightclubs or bars and must have been picked up there. The bodies were found in random places on the outskirts of the town, isolated and not traveled very much.”

“The latest victims in this town had gone out to two different nightclubs. Friends said they went out dancing and to have a few drinks. They lost track of them and thought they went home or got lucky until they never showed back up the next day and contacted the cops. It was a few days later the bodies were found with their hearts missing,” Dominick summarized the reports he pulled up. "It will feed on the ones with the blood type It likes but is no above killing if cornered or to protect itself."

“So, tomorrow we check out the clubs and talk to the witnesses again to see if they remember anything they didn’t tell the locals.” 

“Fine by me. I’m heading to bed, I’ll see you guys in the morning for breakfast,” Dominick said.

“Good night, see you tomorrow,” Sam nodded gathering up the papers from his folder and stacking them to go back in.

“Yeah, night kid,” Dean called. “First for bathroom.” 

“Sure go ahead,” Sam waved deciding to go get a water from the vending machine before turning in. He wanted to get a little fresh air too and clear his head. When he came back to the room, Dean was stretched out on the bed with the television on. He grabbed his sleep clothes and headed into the bathroom to change and hoped to avoid talking to Dean.

"Shall we finish our talk?" Dean asked when Sam came back into the room and turned down his bed to get in. 

Sam froze for a moment and swallowed quickly before sitting on the side of the bed facing his brother. He was sure he was going to get a lecture and get reamed for what he did. 

"I'm not angry with you Sammy," Dean started when he saw Sam's body language. "I know you were concerned about my safety. But from now on no more mojo on me. If you want to know something ask. Whether I tell you is up to me."

"I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry," Sam said softly hanging his head. "I only wanted you to talk to me. I wanted to understand and help if I could. You scared me Dean. I've never seen you like that before and, well..."

"I get it. We both need to work on communicating better with each other. We need to find our groove again, I know. I'm willing to work on it if you are."

"Yeah bro, I am," Sam agreed feeling some of his worry gone now. He sighed; happy Dean was being reasonable about it all. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned about this or not. It really wasn't what he had been expecting but maybe that was a good thing. 

"Go on to bed, you need some rest," Dean told him turning back to the television to watch whatever was on.

Sam didn't say anything else as he got under the covers and settled into the mattress. He looked over at his brother's profile and spoke. "Nite Dean."

spn

The three hunters stepped from the diner after breakfast and planned out their next move.

“Let’s split up, I’ll check out the clubs around here and you two go track down the friends and talk to them,” Dean told them as he tossed Sam the keys. “You can drop me off downtown, I’m sure the clubs are probably close together and I can walk to them. I’ll see if the managers are around and talk to them.”

“Sure, I made a list of the friend’s addresses and phone numbers so we can check them out,” Sam replied moving to get into the driver’s side. He waited for the others before cranking up the Impala and pulling from the parking lot. He drove to the district where the bars and clubs were and let Dean out to do his canvassing. “You want to start calling some of these friends and see if we can interview them?”

“I can do that,” Dominick replied pulling his cell and taking the list. 

Sam waited in the parking space as he started making calls and setting up times for them. After he contacted several on the list, Sam left to find the first person he was able to contact. He headed over to the other side of town and followed Dominick’s directions to the house of the first friend. 

“How are we playing this?” Dominick asked.

“FBI undercover that’s why we’re in civilian clothes,” Sam offered. “You can use one of Dean's older badges; just flash it for a moment and put your thumb over the picture.” 

“Whatever you say,” Dominick shrugged accepting the black case with the fake badge and credentials. 

“Follow my lead, it’ll be easy.” 

They got out of the car and went to the front door to knock. They waited, listening for movement inside, until they heard locks disengaging and the door opened.

“Are you the ones who called earlier?”

“Yes, Mr. Howard, Agents Wilson and Clark, FBI,” Sam introduced them. “We wanted to ask you about your friend, Sasha Gromer.”

“Sure, come on in,” he said leading them into a family room where they took a seat. “What do you want to know?”

“This club you went to, do you go there regularly?”

“I guess maybe once or twice every couple of weeks unless we had something to celebrate.”

“So you didn’t stay together when you got there?”

“We had a table, but we’d got out there on the dance floor and Sasha came alone so she danced with a number of guys that asked her.”

“Did anyone stand out to you? Maybe seemed too interested in her?”

“No, not really, I mean we were all drinking and having a good time so I really didn’t pay that much attention.”

“Then you didn’t see her leave from the club? What time did you leave?”

“No, when we got ready to go she wasn’t anywhere to be found. We figured she either went on home or a guy caught her eye and she left with him. We left at one am right before closing.”

“Did you know either of the other two female victims?”

“I knew them by sight, but didn’t really know them. Small town, everyone knows everyone else.”

“Have you seen anyone new at the club?” Dominick asked as he joined in.

“I think there have been a few new faces in the past couple of weeks, maybe go ask Rachel. She’s more observant than me.”

“How do we get in touch with Rachel? And what is her last name?”

“She works at a law firm, Barker and Jones. They’re over on Main Street near the courthouse. It‘s Nelson, Rachel Nelson, she was close friends with Sasha.”

“Thank you for your time,” Sam said getting up to shake his hand. 

“I hope you find who did this to Sasha, she was a kind, sweet, person who didn’t deserve what happened to her.” 

“We’ll do our best,” Sam told him as they excused themselves and left. “Let’s go see what this Rachel person has to say. Maybe she saw something that will help.”

“Fine with me,” Dominick agreed getting into the passenger side of the Impala. 

Sam cranked the car and pulled out to head to the business district and find the lawyer’s office so they could interview this friend.

spn

Dean walked down the street glancing at the businesses and scoping out the bars and clubs that were within a three block radius. These were the more upscale ones from the ones on the outskirts of town that were more hard core and biker hangouts. From what Dominick told them, he didn’t think this creature would be there since it wanted healthy hearts, not ones that were too old or riddled with disease. After making the circle, Dean turned back and decided to start with the two places mentioned in the police reports first. He strolled back to the next block and stopped at the front door. When he tried the knob, he found it locked. He rapped hard hoping someone might be inside he could talk to. He waited a moment and knocked again.

Noises could be heard on the other side of the door and it finally opened revealing a middle aged man in jeans and button up shirt. 

“Can I help you?” he asked eyeing Dean cautiously.

“I hope so, FBI, Agent Wilson, I was wondering if I could talk with you for a moment,” Dean said producing his badge for a moment. “Are you the owner?”

“I am, David Webber. What do you want to talk about? Come on in.”

“You’ve heard about the murder victims showing up the past couple of weeks?” Dean asked stepping into the darken hallway and followed him deeper into the club. He took a stool at the bar as the guy went around to the back where papers were spread out.

“Yes, I read the paper.”

“Do you have any security cameras in your club?” he asked looking around.

“Yeah had them installed for insurance purposes,” David said. He pointed around the room where security cameras were mounted.

“Think I could see the ones for the dates of the murders?” 

“Sure, but it may take a while, there’s six of them positioned around the place. Come with me, I’ll take you to the control room and key them up. You want a coffee or water?” 

“Coffee would be good.” 

Dean followed him to the back of the room and through a door marked private. He saw several doors marked private in the hallway and waited as the owner unlocked one of the doors, holding it open for him.  
Dean stepped in to see six monitors, a desk with keyboards and controls. 

“You know how to operate any of this stuff?” 

“I can figure it out.” 

“What dates do you need?”

“The seventh, fourteenth, and twenty-third.” Dean rattled off. 

“Okay....” David paused as he hit some keys and pulled up a screen listing dates and tapping on the seventh. The screens came to life as images of people in the bar dancing, mingling, getting drinks, etc. “Go for it.” 

“Thanks,” Dean said letting his eyes go to each screen seeing the time in the right hand corner that counted up. He looked at the keyboard and hit the forward arrow watching the screens move faster. He wanted to get to later in the evening when he thought the creature would come out to find a victim and see if he could find any of the victims when they were there.  
================================

A/N: The hunt begins. Thank you for going on this journey with me. Comments would be nice. NC


	18. Chapter 18

Sam had to park down the block from the law office and they got out walking down the sidewalk to the building. They stepped into the place and found the office they wanted was on the second floor. Sam headed for the stairs, not liking the confines of an elevator. Dominick didn’t complain letting Sam take the lead, since this was more his forte than how he would do it. He was curious to see how the brothers worked their cases since he was the foreigner here. They stepped out onto the second floor and walked down the hall toward double glass doors with gold letters stating Barker and Jones, Law Firm.

The secretary looked up at them as they stepped into the office, giving both of them a good look. She waited until they stopped at her desk before speaking.

“May I help you?” she asked in a sultry voice leaning toward Dom and batting her eyes.

“Yes, we’d like to see Rachel Nelson please,” Sam said politely trying to keep a straight face as he watched her flirt with Dom.

“Who may I say is waiting?” 

“FBI.” 

“One moment please,” she said pushing some buttons on the switchboard as she looked sideways at them thinking neither really looked like FBI. She spoke quietly into her phone and then hung up. “Ms. Nelson will be out in a moment, you’re welcome to wait over there.” 

“Thank you,” Sam nodded as they moved to sit in the cushioned chairs along one wall. He picked up a magazine and thumbed through it as they waited, seeming impatient, while Dominick sat there patiently, barely moving.

"You know she's into you, right?" Sam spoke into Dom's head.

"I try to ignore it. I've only found a few women in your country that are to my liking."

"Don't go out with my brother, no telling where you'd end up," Sam snickered and covered it with a cough.

Sam looked up when a smartly dressed woman stepped from a doorway. She had honey blonde hair twisted into a bun with strands hanging down to frame her face. Her high heels put her at five, eleven, and he could tell by the way her suit clung to her curves, she was fit and took care of herself.

“I’m Rachel Nelson, how can I help you?” she asked shaking their hands.

“Is there somewhere we could talk in private?”

“Of course,” she said showing them to a small conference room. 

“Ms. Nelson, we were told you were good friends with Sasha Gromer,” Sam started.

“Yes, we had known each other since high school. I was devastated with her death,” Rachel replied fighting to hold back the tears. “Maybe if I had stayed with her that night....”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sam said. “Did you see her with anyone that night that seemed maybe too interested in her?” 

“Well....There was this woman who started talking to us and then she hung around Rachel it seemed like for the rest of the night, but I didn’t see them leave together.”

“What did she look like?”

“She was a tall, striking red head. I mean she turned the heads of everyone in the place. She had on blood red lipstick and a black, clingy silk dress that hit mid thigh. There was something kind of strange about her though. She made me feel uneasy and I tried to get Rachel away from her, but I couldn’t. If I had just tried harder....”

“Did she have an accent?” Dominick asked.

“Now that you mention it, yes. It was what made her seem more attractive to the men I think. I don’t know how many guys wanted to buy her drinks or dance with her, but she brushed them off. It was like she was emitting pheromones or something that drew every person in the place to her.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t hang with them; you could have been a victim too. Do you remember the last time you saw them in the club?”

“I think it was like around eleven-thirty, maybe midnight, I’m not really sure, but I was a little drunk. Do you think she had something to do with Rachel’s death?”

“We don’t know yet, ongoing investigating. We can't really talk about it. Thank you for your help,” Sam said getting up to shake her hand.

“I hope you find who killed her.” 

“We are going to do our best to get justice for Sasha.”

After Sam and Dominick got back outside, he took out his cell and sent a text to Dean with what he had found about a red headed woman who seemed to draw everyone's attention. He hoped that would be enough for him to pinpoint her in one of the clubs. Sam knew that most of the establishments had video surveillance for liability reasons and hoped their luck was good and Dean would find the mysterious red head.

spn

Dean rubbed his eyes as he tried to concentrate on checking all the screens for anything out of the ordinary. He heard his cell beep with a text and pulled it out to read Sam’s message. He looked back at the screens and fast forwarded to eleven pm and slowed it down searching for a drop dead red head. He didn’t think it would be that hard from the description Sam had given him. 

At eleven forty-five he found the victim and a few minutes later a tall, red head walked up to her. The image blurred and focused as the red head walked up to the bar. He froze one screen that had the best shot of her and figured out how to print it out. With the printout in hand, Dean headed out and was going to go down to the other club to see if anyone was there. He wanted to see if they might have seen this woman in the club. He had a feeling he was looking at their killer. 

After coming out of the fourth club, Dean sent a text to Sam to come pick him up so they could compare notes and grab a late lunch. He was already putting a plan in place to stake out the clubs and see if the red head showed again that night. He walked slowly down the street, keeping an eye out for his Impala. He stopped at a sidewalk cafe and grabbed a drink and took a seat outside where he could see the traffic both ways. He was almost finished with his drink when he spotted Sam driving down the street and got up to wait for him to pull up so he could get in back. It felt strange to do this since he rarely rode back there unless he was injured or unconscious. 

“Did you find her?” Sam asked as he merged back into traffic.

“Yes,” he said pulling out the printout and handing it to the front for them to see. “Since we know what she looks like now I say we stake out the clubs tonight. We'll each take one and if one of us spots her will text the others to join him and we take her out. But first, lunch and then we'll head back to the motel to get a nap before heading back out.” 

“Any place in particular you want to eat?”

“How ‘bout that sub shop over on the other side of town near the motel?”

“Alright,” Sam said. He knew better than to argue knowing it wouldn't do any good. Dean was a creature of habit and he wasn't going to change. At least he didn’t want fast food again, Sam could only take so much of the greasy, high calorie, artery clogging menu. He knew with a sub shop he stood a better chance of getting something a little healthier.

spn

Dusk was falling across the town when Sam started to stir in his bed. He drew in a deep breath and woke his mind up so he could get his body awake. He looked over to see an empty bed and looked around the room not seeing Dean. He sat up and swung his legs off the bed to get up when the door to the room opened making him go for his weapon until he saw it was his brother and Dominick.

“Good, you’re up,” Dean grunted.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Sam asked.

“Though you might need your beauty sleep,” Dean smirked a smile playing on his face with the tease.

“Screw you,” he muttered under his breath as he grabbed clothes and headed for the bathroom to change.

“Got some food before we head out,” Dean called as he began to pull cartons from the bag and reading the names on top before handing them out. 

Sam came out of the bathroom and stuffed his sleep clothes in his bag before joining them at the table. He pulled the carton to him and opened it slowly to see what the surprise meal was going to be. He was impressed to find grilled chicken breast, steamed carrots, salad, rolls and iced tea. He glanced at Dean’s and saw a bacon double cheese burger, steak fries, sautéed onions and of course a slice of pie for dessert. Dom had chosen a turkey club with sweet potato fries and a slice of pie.

They ate in relative silence each preparing in their own way for the hunt. They finished up and went over the plan once again, Dean assigning clubs to both of them. He stressed to them if either saw the red head to text immediately to the others and to wait for backup. They were not to engage the creature on their own. Silent communication passed between the brothers that Dominick thought was interesting. They checked their weapons and made sure they had extra clips of the special rounds to kill the Devorator Al Inimilor. 

spn

The streets were just starting to get crowded as people made their way to the clubs and bars along the block where they were located. Dean drove around until he found a parking space between two of the clubs and near the third they were going to stake out. They got out and each made their way to the one they were assigned. 

The club was loud, but not too busy yet. Sam paused to look around the room deciding on the best place that would let him see the entrance to the place. He made his way across the room and took a small table in the corner away from the main flow of things. He could easily see the front and back of the club and ordered a ginger ale when the waitress came around. He got comfortable watching the comings and goings of the crowd. He looked for red heads as the club started to fill. Sam startled slightly when the waitress brought another drink to him. She told him it was from the dark haired woman at the bar wearing red. Sam looked that way and nodded thanks but shook his head no; he wasn’t interested when she started to get up. He saw a look of disappointment cross her face and then she threw him a pout before looking around for another target.

Dominick moved among patrons of the club until he was at the bar and took a seat. He surveyed the scene until the bartender came by and asked for his order. He asked for a beer and waited as the bartender slapped a napkin down and sat an ice cold beer in front of him. His gaze sweep over the crowd seeking the face of the creature he had been searching for nearly four years now. He remained calm and watchful, waiting patiently. Dominick let his senses spread throughout the room searching for the one that wasn't human. He didn't think the creature would have changed its appearance yet. Several women came by to see if he wanted to dance and he declined gracefully.

Dean stood there on the street and watched as the other two went in different directions. He didn’t like them splitting up but it was the only way to cover more ground and hopefully catch It tonight before It took another victim. He steeled himself and headed to the club nearby to set up his watch for the red headed woman. He found a location to survey the crowd and the door and ordered a beer while he waited. Dean didn’t think he would have any problem recognizing her. From what he saw on the tape, she would stand out in a crowd, even without trying. The Devorator Al Inimilor had picked a drop dead gorgeous form that no man would turn down if approached. He dismissed several young women who came over trying to talk to him. Tonight he was on the hunt for a different kind of prey and wasn't going to be distracted.  
============================================  
A/N: The hunt is on, but who's going to find the Devorator Al Inimilor first or will she find them? Thank you for taking this journey with me. It is sad to said it is almost over. Two more chapters and the ride will be over. I hope you like the new character I have created and will read more of him hunting with the guys. Comments would be awesome. NC


	19. Chapter 19

Dean was starting to get bored and impatient as he nursed his second beer, trying to make it last as long as he could. The club had filled and patrons were at the bar or tables or dancing on the dance floor. He knew the minute she walked into the club. Heads turned her way and a path was made to the bar where she took a seat. There was an air of supremacy, power, confidence, and dominance about her. Drinks were already being sent her way from admirers who wanted her attention. Dean was stunned and taken in by her essence at first, but he pulled himself out of it and pulled his cell out. He sent a quick text to Sam and Dominick that she was at there. 

He got up and made his way through the crowd to get closer to her so he could watch her easier. Dean studied her tactics as she talked to a number of young men searching for her target. Suddenly she got up and headed to the back where the restrooms were located. He lost her in the crowd as he tried to weave through them and pry drunk, clingy women’s hands from his arms. By the time he got to the back, she had disappeared. He looked around and asked a woman to see if his girlfriend was in the restroom, but after she looked she told him no.

Dean spotted an emergency exit and headed through it seeing the alarm was cut and stepped into the alley behind the club. He looked both ways and caught a glimpse of red hair going around the corner with someone. He took off after them hoping not to lose her. When he rounded the corner there was no one in sight. This made him wary and he ignored the buzzing coming from his jacket pocket as he pulled out his gun.

Dean made his way carefully down the alley watching for an ambush. He tried to sense the presence of the creature but wasn’t having any luck. He was almost to the end when something struck him from behind knocking him unconscious. He crumbled to the ground as the world around him blacked out. Dean’s body was easily jerked up, his gun retrieved, and drug down to the opening of the alley where he was dumped in the trunk of a waiting car. The red headed creature got in the driver’s seat and drove away into the night. None saw any of this transpire; it was as if the hunter disappeared without a trace.

spn

Sam met Dominick at the door and they hurried inside in search of Dean and the red head. Sam scanned the room as they made their way deeper into the large space but didn’t see either. He pulled out his cell and called but it went to voicemail after four rings. 

“Sam, I talked to the waitress. She saw Dean head for the restrooms and not come back,” Dominick yelled into this ear to be heard over the music blasting from the speakers all around the room.

“Let’s go check it out,” he said. Sam pushed his way through the crowd with Dominick following close behind him. He saw the emergency exit and pushed through to the alley outside. He looked back when no alarm went off and frowned. “If Dean went after her, he could be in trouble. Let’s get the car and I’ll see if I can track his cell.” 

They headed to the street and the parking lot where the Impala waited. Sam used a spare key hidden in a wheel well to unlock the doors so they could get in. 

“You try tracking the cell and I’ll see if I can find him,” Dominick told him as he settled, relaxed, and left his body searching for Dean. 

Sam pulled up the tracking program and waited impatiently for it to come up. He cranked the Impala and pulled out when he saw Dean’s cell was moving away from the middle of town toward the outskirts. Dominick was still gone and his body moved effortlessly as he turned the corner. Sam pushed him slightly so he wouldn’t fall over as he kept an eye on the moving red dot on his cell. His mind was whirling with worry, fear and not knowing whether Dean was alive or not. He hoped the creature didn’t take time to kill him yet and could catch up with them. 

Dominick drew in a sudden long breath as he straightened and let his spirit merge back into his body. He looked over at Sam who was trying to watch him while driving.

“What did you see?” he asked when he saw he was back.

“He’s locked in a trunk of a red car along with another guy.”

“Is he still alive?” 

“Yes, but unconscious.” 

“I don’t think she’ll be taking them far,” he said concentrating on the road ahead of him as he sped around a slow driver. Sam was shrinking the distance between him and his brother and he clenched the wheel tightly hoping they would be in time to save them. He mumbled to Baby she needed to give him a little more; Dean needed him, as he pressed harder on the gas feeling a surge and roar of her engine.

spn

The red car pulled into an abandoned factory and parked near a side door so it would be hidden from anyone driving by. The creature got out and went around to the back to open the trunk and take out her prizes for the night. She was enjoying the pickings of this town and had decided to stay a little longer before moving on until this hunter showed up spoiling her plans. Dean and her victim weighted nothing to her as she jerked both bodies from the trunk and dropped them at the door so she could open it. Both remained unconscious when she gathered a hand full of clothes from each body dragging them into the building and to the lair she had set up for herself. 

“Now let’s see what pretties you might have on you,” she cooed to Dean as she patted him down and removed any weapons hidden in his clothes. The creature looked at his cell and dropped it to the ground to stomp on it, destroying it. “Too bad you’re not my type, but you know I might make an exception this once, but only after I enjoy my feast. I hate to be wasteful with my food,” she laughed victoriously. 

The Devorator Al Inimilor moved to the young man she had lured from the club and picked up his limp body to transfer it to a blood coated table she had set up near some portable lighting. 

“So strong and young...” she crooned letting her true form started to take shape. A clawed hand slowly ripped the shirt the man was wearing, exposing his chest to her hungry stare. Not able to wait any longer, she plunged her claws into his bare chest, tearing away bone and flesh until she had his still beating heart exposed. The creature’s breath came out faster when It smelled the blood laced air around the man. It grinned maliciously exposing sharp jagged teeth, and licking Its lips in anticipation of the feast.

A shriek of pain erupted from the man’s mouth as he stared wide eyed at the monster and drew in a breath to scream but that was cut off when his heart was brutally torn from his body in one swift swipe. He slumped back down, no life left in his body and the scream dying on his lips. She cupped the heart in her hands and brought it to her mouth to take a bite, slowly chewing and savoring the warm flesh and blood. Blood ran down the sides of her mouth and on to her dress, but she didn’t care. She was so consumed in the moment that she didn’t see Dean was starting to stir from where she had left him. 

spn

“Damnit! I lost the signal,” Sam growled tossing his cell into the seat beside him. “It stopped not far ahead. That’s gotta be where she’s taken them.” 

“Over there, that’s a closed down factory, would be a good place for her to hide between kills,” Dominick pointed out.

“Let’s check it out,” Sam said. He turned onto the road the factory was on and drove toward the abandoned structures. “She would want to hide the car, so I’ll drive around back, you watch for it.”

“Alright,” Dominick replied rolling down the window to see better. He glanced down dark allies between buildings as Sam checked the other side. They were almost to the end of the buildings when he saw it. “Over there, I see a car.” 

Sam pulled up short and parked before clambering out and heading for it. He kept to the shadows out of sight, only stopping long enough to pick the trunk lock and check inside to find it empty. 

“See if there’s another door into this building and I’ll go in this one,” he whispered to Dominick. 

“It’s in there, I can feel it,” he told him with confidence. “Be careful, remember It is strong and fast and won‘t hesitate to kill you.” 

“You too. I‘ll meet you inside.” 

They parted and Sam tried the doorknob to find it opened easily under his hand. He stepped into the dimly lit building with his gun drawn ready to do battle. He didn’t see anything as he quietly walked deeper into the structure, turning on his light to see better. He found drag marks on the floor and followed them through the skeletons of machinery, crates, metal barrels, and trash left behind. Spider webs hung from every surface that was coated in layers of dust and dirt showing the neglect and how long it had been abandoned. He could see dust particles dancing around in the beam of the light as he sweep it from side to side. He thought he could hear talking up ahead and hurried that way thinking one voice sounded like his brother’s.

“You hunters are all alike, think you can destroy the likes of me,” she hissed as she threw Dean backwards, making him go down hard. She stomped toward him, her teeth and face coated in the blood of her last victim as she smiled evilly. “I have been around for centuries, and have lived through wars, being hunted, fighting, to always come out on top. You are not superior to me and never will be.” 

“Screw you bitch!” Dean forced out as loud as he could through clenched teeth. He tried to get his body to respond but was still groggy and weak from being hit on the head. He tried to kick out at her, but didn’t connect. His vision swam when he suddenly felt himself being lifted from the ground and shook hard enough to make his teeth click together almost making him bite his tongue.

“You're not the right type, but you know what? I’m going to make an exception this time. I can’t see letting such a strong, young heart go to waste. You can be my dessert,” she gloated as she shifted in form again. The Devorator Al Inimilor raised a clawed hand to rake it down Dean’s chest shredding his shirt and tee shirt and drawing thin trails of blood in the claws wake. She smiled when Dean grunted in pain and spread her clawed finger around the area where his heart was and began to press inward, letting the claws dig into his chest. She wanted to take her time and make it as painful as she could for him.

Sam ran into the room to see his brother being held up by the creature and heard the pained cry from him. He saw red and without thinking about it threw up his arm.

“No!” he yelled loudly as he used his power to throw the creature backwards away from Dean. He raised his gun and fired but she was too fast and was only hit in the arm. 

An unearthly scream erupted from her as she disappeared into the darkness of the building.

“Dean!” Sam cried as he hurried to his brother and dropped down beside him. “I got you, its okay,” he said quickly taking off his jacket and outer shirt. He wadded it up and pressed it to the wounds on his chest making him groan with pain.

“Sam, which way?” Dominick asked as he ran into the room looking for the creature.

“That way, be careful I wounded it,” he told him.

Dominick hurried off in the direction he pointed using his flashlight to track the trail of blood drops It was leaving behind.

“Go help him, I’ll be okay,” Dean grunted forcing down the pain that radiated through his chest. “That bitch needs to die tonight.”

“Keep this pressed tight,” Sam said putting Dean’s hand to his shirt and pressing on it hard to help stop the flow of blood. “Don’t you go dying on me, you hear? I’ll be back.” He got up and pulled his gun and followed Dominick in search of the creature.

“Shoot that sonovabitch Sammy,” Dean ordered as he worked on slowing his breathing trying hard not to pass out.

spn

Dominick let his powers fan out looking for the Devorator Al Inimilor, trying to sense where it had gone. He stepped deeper into the array of machines and useless equipment searching for any signs of her. The shadows deepened as moonlight from overhead skylights shone into the area making it look like a scene from some horror movie. He heard the scratch from behind and before he could turn to face it, Dominick was thrown forward when the creature barreled into him. His gun fell from his hand and his light went rolling across the floor. Before he could recover, she was on him pinning him to a wall.

“You!” she screeched. “I thought I had lost you when I left Europe. You made a huge mistake following me here.”

“You’re going to die tonight,” Dominick growled out as he tried to pull a knife from his belt. He focused on repelling her but didn’t get a chance.

“I don’t think so,” she smirked hitting him hard in the stomach and then face. “This is where you’re going to end up just like your grandfather and other kin. Dead with no one to save you.” 

Sam stopped when he saw the Devorator Al Inimilor had Dominick. He couldn’t get a clear shot because she was holding him in front of her body. He saw the glint of his gun on the floor nearby and quickly spoke to him. 

“Dom, hold your hand out for your gun,” Sam said in his mind. He saw Dominick open his hand and focused on the gun, picking it up and moving it to his waiting hand. “Fire now!”

Dominick heard Sam’s voice in his head and obeyed what he said to do. He felt the cold steel of his gun in his hand and wrapped his fingers around it as he worked hard on breathing. The creature was starting to claw at his chest when he fired upward into Its body. Dominick suddenly felt the release of his body and stumbled backward before falling to the floor. Gunshots rang above his head.

Sam made ready as soon as Dom was out of the way, he was going to take the shot. He watched, tense and ready to spring into action. The shots sounded loud in the room, but when Dom’s body stumbled and fell Sam shot three times into the creature’s chest. His aim was true and two pierced the Devorator Al Inimilor heart causing It to stumble backward clutching at Its chest and wailing and shrieking loudly.

Sam ran over to Dom and helped him to sit up as they watched the creature twist and shake trying to keep its body from changing. They both grimaced in disgust as its true form took shape and watched in horror as the grayish white skin started to mold and flake away. The body began to degrade in front of their eyes until all that was left was an Emerald green dress filled with what looked like grey ash. Dominick clutched at his chest as he tried to draw in breaths of air.

“How bad are you hurt?” Sam asked sensing his distress. He could hear the wheezing of each breath he took. “Does it feel like any ribs are broken?”

“No, don’t think so, maybe bruised. The rest is nothing fatal, flesh wounds I think,” he said feeling a trickle of blood between his fingers. 

“C’mon, let’s get back to Dean and we’ll get back to the motel so I can patch both of you up,” Sam told him helping him to stand on wobbly legs. 

“It’s done, it doesn’t seem real,” he stated giving the mound one final look.

“I know the feeling,” Sam replied thinking of the times they had taken on the monsters set on destroying the world and won.

They walked back through the rooms to where they found Dean propped against a wall still holding Sam’s shirt to his chest. Sam looked to the table where the body of the dead young man still lay and mourned his death. He had hoped to save his brother and the victim, but it wasn’t the case this time. 

“Can you walk Dean?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, just get me pointed in the right direction,” he grunted trying to push himself up the wall.

Sam got between the two and with his help they shuffled to the door and out into the darkness of the night and fresh air. Sam drew in a breath that was not filled with dust, dirt, fresh blood and sighed. 

“Guess you’re driving back,” Dean mumbled letting Sam help him into the passenger side of the car.

“Of course. I’m the only one who can stand without falling down,” he said getting the back door opened for Dominick. “This is a first; I’m the only one who didn’t get hurt.”

“We did all the hard work,” Dean chuffed.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Sam chuckled as he started the Impala and headed back to town and the motel. He breathed easier now that this was over with, the creature was dead and they all came out of this alive, injured, but alive.  
=====================================  
A/N: One more chapter and we will be at the end of this journey. Thank you for coming along with me. I do like comments. NC


	20. Chapter 20

This is the end of our journey, but I hope to write more about Dom and the brothers in the future. I have a Christmas short story I will be posting Christmas Eve and Day. Thank you to all who took this trip with me. I do like comments. NC  
==================================

The drive back to the motel was quiet except for the occasional grunt of pain or cough from the two passengers. Sam kept glancing over at Dean but couldn't tell much about his condition only that he still seemed to be breathing okay. He looked in the mirror at the back seat and saw Dominick had his head back and eyes closed like he was asleep.

"I know you're staring at me," Dominick said in Sam's mind making him jump slightly and jerk the wheel.

"You okay Sammy?" Dean asked weakly as he tried to focus on his brother.

"I'm fine, we're almost to the motel and I can get both of you patched up," Sam replied quickly trying to cover his reaction. 

"Was just checking you were okay," Sam answered Dominick in his mind.

"I'll live." Dominick sighed. "I've had worse over the years so this is a piece of cake."

"We'll see once we get back to the motel."

Sam steered onto the road their motel was located and quickly went over the supplies in the first aid kit in his head to be sure he would have what they needed. He didn't think either would need anything major, maybe some stitches and butterfly bandages. He was sure by the way Dean was acting he might have a slight concussion from the blow to the head. He turned into the parking lot and drove around to their rooms to park.

"Let me get Dom out and I'll come back for you," Sam told Dean before getting out and moving to the back to help Dominick to the door and unlocking it. He got him inside and to a bed before turning to go back for his brother.

Dean heard most of what Sam said, but opted to open his door and swing his feet to the ground. He sat there a moment before using one hand pulled himself forward and to an almost standing position.

"Damnit Dean, you're going to fall!" Sam fussed as he grabbed his body just before it started its downward spiral. He got his arm under Dean's and half dragged him into the room and deposited him on the other bed. Sam went back out to shut the door to the car and get the first aid kit from the back. When he got back inside both were laying on their beds, Dean semi-conscious and Dom awake. 

"Check your brother first; I think he's injured worse than me," Dom told Sam. 

Sam moved to Dean's bed and sat down putting the kit within reach. 

"Let's get these shredded shirts off first. You're gonna have to sit up for a moment." 

Sam helped Dean to sit up and took off his jacket and two torn shirts before carefully lowering him back down on the bed. He slipped on gloves before checking his brother out. He saw blood on the side of his head and probed gently finding a lump and got a hiss from Dean as he jerked away from his probing fingers.

"Sorry, needed to check it," Sam apologized. "I'm going to have to clean these so I can see if any need stitching." 

"Do it..." Dean barely got out. 

Sam took out a bottle of peroxide and gauze and began to clean the gashes down his chest before concentrating on the gouges around his heart. A couple was deep and would probably need stitches but the others would only take butterflies to keep them closed so they could heal. He threw away the bloody gauze and grabbed clean pieces to swab the others dry before placing the bandages in place. Sam picked up a suture and carefully pinched the skin together to place three stitches closely together on the remaining four gouges the claws had made. He put cream on them and covered the places with pads, taping them down. He wet the gauze and cleaned his head wound to get a better look. He could see where the skin was broken and the bruising that was starting in the area. Sam carefully covered it and taped it in place before getting up and snapping off the gloves.

"Not too bad, but I'm pretty sure you've got a concussion. You need to lay still and don't go to sleep." 

"Sl'p..." Dean slurred letting his head roll to the side. 

"No, no sleep," Sam told him sternly before turning to Dominick. "Your turn." 

Sam sat down by Dom who had already gotten his jacket off and was working on getting his torn shirt off. 

"Doesn't look too bad," Sam remarked checking his wounds before taking gauze and peroxide to clean them. "Don't think you even need stitches, just butterflies. You still awake over there?" he called to Dean.

"Screw 'u," he got out just wanting the pounding in his head to stop. He raised a hand to rub his temples.

"I'll give you some pain meds when I'm done with Dom. Do you need some too?" 

"I don't think so. I can handle it." 

"Don't hurt needlessly, how 'bout Tylenol at least.” 

“Alright, and Sam thanks for saving me. And taking the creature out.” 

“No problem, it was a joint effort. Do you have any other injuries I need to check?” 

“I’m good. I’ll just go to my room when you’re done,” he said.

“You can stay here if you like.”

“No, you need to look after your brother, I’ll be fine.” he insisted slowly sitting up on the side of the bed. 

“Okay, but leave the door open in case you need anything call out to me,” he replied moving out of his way. 

"I will." Dom told him as he shuffled to the other room to lie down.

“Alright Dean, time for pain meds.” 

“No...” Dean mumbled groaning with pain. 

“Here, open up,” Sam told him pressing tablets to his lips. He got them into his mouth and held a bottle of water to them for him to wash the tablets down. “Okay, you can sleep for an hour and I’ll check on you.”

“I’m fine...” Dean grumbled turning his head away from him. 

“Sure you are,” Sam sighed knowing his brother. He placed the first aid kit by his duffle and dug around finding his journal. He made himself comfortable on his bed knowing he needed to check on Dean hourly because of the head injury. He opened the book to a blank page and picked up a pen to begin writing. Sam was going to document the hunt and what they had learned about the creature if they were ever to run across one again. He was also going to write about meeting Dominick and learning of his powers and what he could do. He wanted to keep track of everything going on with him so he could look back on it. 

spn

There was a soft rap at the door that Sam quickly answered to find Dominick waiting. 

“How’s he doing?” he whispered glancing to the bed to see Dean still sacked out, snoring softly. 

“Happy I’m not waking him up anymore,” Sam said trying to suppress a yawn. 

“I bet,” he chuckled.

“I was going to go grab some breakfast for us, want to come alone?” Sam offered.

“Sure, will Dean be okay?”

“I’ll leave him a note,” Sam said picking up a scrap of paper and scribbling on before sitting it on the nightstand. “Shall we go? I‘ll drive.”

They quietly left the room leaving Dean in peace so he could sleep. Sam unlocked the Impala and got in doing the same to the other door so Dominick could slide into the passenger seat. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed down to the diner since they offered breakfast specials he was sure Dean would enjoy. He pulled into the diner parking lot and they went in to get takeout. 

spn

Sam opened the door to let them into the room and found Dean coming out of the bathroom looking groggy still but a steadier on his feet.

“Good you’re up, got breakfast,” Sam said enthusiastically, holding up the bags he had in his hands.

“Not so loud and so happy,” Dean grimaced frowning and gritting his teeth. 

“We have coffee,” Sam offered.

“Gimme,” he stated taking a seat at the table and letting Dominick sit the tray with coffees on the table. He pulled a cup from it, took a sip and almost spit it out as he choked and gagged.

“That is mine,” Sam shrugged taking it from him.

“These two are black,” Dom told him trying not to smile with his reaction to the wrong coffee.

“That’s more like it,” he sighed after taking a sip and then another. 

“Here you go the heart attack special,” Sam said. He sat a carton in front of Dean and smirked when he opened it to see a double portion of bacon with eggs, hash browns, toast and jam. 

“You did good bro,” Dean smiled for a moment before it turned into one of pain.

“You need pain meds,” Sam said getting up to go to the first aid kit and finding them. He shook two into his hand and held them out to Dean who took them.

“Thanks,” Dean nodded popping the pills in his mouth and washing them down with coffee. “So Dom, what are your plans now?”

“Yeah are you heading back home?” Sam asked as he cut up a bite of his egg white omelet.

“You know, I kind of like it here in the states and there’s a lot I haven’t seen,” Dom started. He took a sip of coffee before continuing. “I’m thinking of staying for awhile.” 

“Really?” Sam asked with interest and hope. 

“You’re welcome to hang with us if you like,” Dean said. “We did make a pretty good team.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll head out on my own. With our line of work I’m sure our paths will cross again.”

“I hope so,” Sam said. He couldn’t keep the hint of disappointment from his voice.

“I was thinking I’d keep in touch with you to see how your training is going,” Dom offered sensing Sam’s feelings.

“I’d like that,” Sam replied, trying to hide his relief.

“You know you can call us any time you want backup,” Dean offered, feeling the need to keep contact with Dominick for Sam's sake.

“And if you need my assistance please call me,” Dom responded. “It pays to have able bodied, experienced hunters as allies.”

“And to have someone with an extra edge,” Sam added. 

“I figured we’d stay here for a couple of days so I can heal and nurse this concussion,” Dean told them. “Why don’t you hang around and...?You can give Sammy a few more pointers.” 

“I can do that,” Dom said. "Maybe Sam would like to learn how to make fire," he added snapping his fingers and producing a small flame that he bounced from finger to finger before snuffing it out.

"Do you think I can learn to cross over and talk to spirits?" Sam asked.

"That does take a lot of practice but may be doable. I don't know what other abilities you might have but we can test the waters and see what happens. From what I've seen so far you are a strong psychic and if you practice and work at it you can be even stronger."

"Alright, I'll keep working on them until I have perfected the ones I have. I want to be able to use them when we hunt. I think it will give us an advantage."

"We inherited a cabin in White Fish, Montana that you're welcome to use if you need a place to stay and are close. Sammy can send you directions to it," Dean said.

"That's right, I never thought of that. It's been passed down through several hunters to us. We helped our surrogate father update the place a little with new mattresses, newer used stove and fridge," Sam added.

"Yeah, we got a guy that keeps an eye on it for us. It's isolated and quiet and a good place to get away if you need it." 

"Thanks, and if you ever need a place, give me a call and I'll see if you're near any of my family. They will welcome you and you will be safe with them," Dominick told them.

"Deal," Dean stated holding out his hand to shake with Dominick. 

“That’s great,” Sam agreed knowing he could use all the training Dom could give him. He was glad Dean seemed to accept him learning how to use his powers and not balk at it. They still had some things to iron out, but it seemed things were taking a turn for the better and he was glad they had another experienced hunter in their mist. Especially one as good as Dominick. He thought this was going to be a good alliance. Plus, he had someone to help him with developing his powers and to talk about things he might not feel comfortable talking to Dean about. With Dominick he had an ally that was like him and they had a special connection that started when they were six months old.

The End


End file.
